A Meditation on Hope

Hope can be a fickle thing.  We have it and then we don’t.  We think everything is going back to normal and then we receive crushing news.  And hope disappears.  But does it really?  Is hope every really gone?  Hope is like a flower.  It appears on schedule, but we forget it’s there at times.  Sometimes it’s lurking beneath the surface and we have to create our own flowers.  We have to visualize them in our minds instead of seeing them for ourselves.  We’re going through a time when it feels like there is a hefty price to pay for hope.  It feels way too expensive.  But what’s interesting is that it’s even more expensive to lose sight of hope.  We need hope like we need air.  And yet we don’t consider the price of air until it’s gone.  Until it’s difficult to breathe.  In this way, hope and air are linked. 

Where do we go if we can’t find hope?  What do we do if nothing is working?  We build a castle for hope.  We construct the walls. We beautify the grounds.  We create a space that will one day welcome hope.  That’s all we can do.  And then when we least expect it, hope appears.  It’s the flower that was never truly gone.  It’s just something that we couldn’t see at the time.  Create the space for hope.  And then invite it in.  (Jordan Brown)

May God heal you, body and soul.

May your pain cease,

May your strength increase,

May your fears be released,

May blessings, love, and joy surround you.

Amen.

Rabbi Naomi Levy

Sarah McEvoy, CPE Intern