Photo: via Pinterest
The Christmas message now, more than ever, is that we must invest in and be empowered by hope
The world needs hope; every person, everywhere, needs hope. HOPE gives us life. HOPE connects us. HOPE fuels us. HOPE moves us. HOPE keeps us. HOPE grounds us. HOPE protects us. HOPE anchors us.
In our secular, consumerist times, that has become largely devoid of spirituality and belonging, hope is our only hope to deliver messages of tolerance and compassion, empathy and kindness, as well as the possibility of redemption, change, and transformation. Let us seize the moment. Let the Christmas spirit be that moment
From darkness to light, from pain to healing: The transformative power of hope
Photo:dreamstime.com
'The world is in a crisis—Humanity has exhausted its ego and doesn’t know what to do'
And this is why HOPE is truly what the world is craving for this Christmas
We must remain positive. We must remain hopeful
'In short, although, this is a turbulent era; paradoxically, it is also a period of tremendous opportunity, a time of enormous Hope for creating a much better future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our community, our country, our world. We need to see this Hope for a better future and play our part in building it.'
Everywhere in the world, our trust and faith in now and the future has been severely shaken. Material wealth has proved to be a false God. There is no longer a certainty in a better, kinder future, and many institutions that we may have trusted — government, business, politics, economics, financial institutions, education, media, and religious organisations (to name but a few) — have failed us. We have been let down.
We are now living in a world that is increasingly hard for people to understand, comprehend, predict and feel safe about, and thus, people of all ages are finding it hard to see hope in their lives. Hopelessness is now ruling the world, bringing us all misery and sickness.
However, although, this is a turbulent era; paradoxically, it is also a period of tremendous opportunity, a time of enormous hope for creating a much better future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our community, our country, our world. We need to see this hope for a better future and play our part in building it.
“We Are Here for the Sake of One Another”
Despite our best efforts, the modern world remains a lonely place, where it can be hard to find conversation and friendship which feels authentic and thoughtful. In an age where social interaction all too often takes the form of trivial memes, polarised arguments, conducted via meaningless and scattergun tweets, we need to navigate new paths to help us connect with each other on a more meaningful and hopeful level.
That New Path is Called the Path of Hope!
The Path of Hope by Cicakkia
cicakkia.deviantart.com
The world needs hope; every person, everywhere, needs hope. HOPE gives us life. HOPE connects us. HOPE fuels us. HOPE moves us. HOPE keeps us. HOPE grounds us. HOPE protects us. HOPE anchors us.
As far back as the 6th century BC, the Greek poet Theognis of Megara said: “Hope is the one good god remaining.” The poet Theo Dorgan reminds us that, hope is a profound act of imagination, the most important and the most neglected of the civic virtues. In the face of the present societal and global crises we can lie down in despair, or we can choose hope — which means placing all our faith in each other and in the boundless capacity of the imagination to reinvent circumstance, to establish new truths.
We are not mean people. We have hearts and minds, we care for each other still, we have our dreams, and in dreams, as the poet Delmore Schwartz once said, “In dreams begin responsibilities”.
Moreover, ‘Hope’- as many wise teachers have reminded us- is a driving force for transformation, innovation, economic and social betterment and personal wellbeing. Hope, often articulated as an endorsed desire for a future which is uncertain, has a clear economic significance as do the unfortunate opposites such as anxiety and inertness. Hence, hope is more than just an emotion or an optimistic attitude. It is related to reason and prudence in the sense of one’s rational assessment of a difficult situation, possible solutions and the prediction of changes. Hope is as complex and ambiguous as the human person itself. For many centuries philosophers and theologians have reflected on the meaning of hope. More recently hope has drawn attention of the young discipline of positive psychology. Also in economics, attempts are made to define the concept and measure its effects, opening up the way for policy interventions.
Our Christmas Message: A time to open our hearts
It is with this hope that, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you find joy in the simple pleasures of life and may the light of the holiday season fill your heart with the hope for a better world.
Kamran and Annie Mofid
Time to Restore Our Hope
The Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) is a powerful symbol of hope, purity, and new beginnings,
often associated with the Nativity story and the restoration of hope in Christian tradition.-Photo via Cornelli
Watch this amazingly beautiful and inspiring video, not all is lost. With the healing power of beauty and hope we can all become the instruments of transformation.
...and now I leave you with the gift of this beautiful song for the ongoing journey- a journey of hope, remembering who, why and what we are:
‘I think over again my small adventures
My fears
Those small ones that seemed so big
For all the vital things
I had to get and reach
And yet there is only one great thing
Only one thing
To live to see the great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world.’ - Old Inuit Song