Hope...is a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us or we don’t; it is a dimension of the soul; it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation.
Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
In short, I think that the deepest and most important form of hope, the only one that can keep us above water and urge us to good works, and the only true source of the breathtaking dimension of the human spirit and its efforts, is something we get, as it were, from “elsewhere.”
-- Vaclav Havel, “Disturbing the Peace,” 1986
On Tuesday, as we do every year in Chapel, we introduced students to the spiritual resources available to them at the school. Students and faculty from many different faith traditions, and from the secular tradition, offered themselves as resources to the community.
We are living in difficult times, and our children, in particular, have been dealt a hard blow at a young age that is manifesting in unusual stress and mental health challenges. We need every resource we have, and I encouraged our community (and I encourage you!) not to underestimate what a healthy spiritual life can do for one’s resilience.
If you have received the gift of a faith tradition from family or elsewhere, pass that gift on to the young people you love. Even if you don’t fully understand or appreciate it yourself (which, frankly, is true for many of us), pass it on. Let them see what they can do with it. It has never been more needed. And, given that our life may well get even harder than it is now, the kind of hope that comes from “elsewhere” could be the most valuable gift you will ever give them.
--The Rev. Barbara Talcott
Spread the word!
Do you know someone in the St. Mark’s community who would enjoy these reflections?
