Hope

Michael Kroth • July 12, 2020

Hope as "...an abiding state of being."

Mystical Hope: Trusting In the Mercy of God, by Cynthia Bourgeault, is an insightful little book. It helped me to re-think the way I look at what "hope" might represent, as not related to outcomes ("I hope I don't blow that presentation"). She is writing about what she calls "mystical hope". She says that in contrast with how we normally think of hope:

"Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.
It has something to do with presence-not a future good outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.
It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy, and satisfaction: an 'unbearable lightness of being.' But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within." (pp. 9-10)

Bourgeault is a Christian writer, who has done much in the areas of centering prayer and mysticism, so going in you know she will be coming from those perspectives. One idea that appealed to me is that she takes hope away from outcomes (I hope I get the raise, get a good health check up), which may or may not be within our control, or even influence, and places hope - and living hopefully - within ourselves and in the present.

"The spiritual life," she says, "can only be lived in the present moment, in the now. All the great religious traditions insist upon this simple but difficult truth. When we go rushing ahead into the future or shrinking back into the past, we miss the hand of God, which can only touch us in the now" (p. 12).

Having thought about all of these ideas this morning, after a great hike yesterday, I'm heading out to our back porch, to spend some time in the present - with our dogs, squirrels, birds, a weed or two, and the cool of this Sunday morning before the heat of the day kicks in. I'll working on living in hope, rather than worrying too much about what I hope might happen down the road.

Peace and blessings fellow travelers.