Hope is our belief, amidst uncertainty, that what we wish to fulfill will come true. It is a positive relationship to potential. Its opposite, fear and doubt, are a major contributor to suffering in our lives. Hope is not only an outcome of a positive relationship to an uncertain situation, but especially when it comes to the minds of humans, is a primary cause of those positive outcomes. For example, throughout history people have been racist and sexist. However when people have hope, and act from that hope that change may come in the minds and hearts of others, change indeed comes. We have grown in our ability to be open-minded and embracing equality because of the hope that people had. If they had no hope, no one would be motivated to create change in society. Hope can be like a burning flame, burning against all obstacles and shining brightly in the face of darkness. Hope is a light at the end of the tunnel, showing us that we have a chance, that we may be fulfilled.
I would like to speak about the hope that comes from reason, and the hope that is transcendent. The hope that comes from reason is a hope that is dependent on facts. From those facts we draw the conclusion that in an uncertain situation we have reason to hope, relative to our odds of fulfillment or not. If there is no facts that ground this kind of hope, we will not have it.
The other kind of hope is grounded not only in facts but in faith. When we see an uncertain situation, we not only acknowledge the rational limitations but also go beyond them. We fully and completely believe in the possibility, from a place of faith. This faith may or may not be grounded in an idea of the divine, like God or Jesus, but it is indeed a transcendent hope since it transcends even the rational. In us is innately a sense that what we believe in will come true, or at least that heartfelt belief is taken into account. For this reason we are driven to believe in the future we want wholeheartedly, we hope beyond reason. In this way we express in our life the nature of the transcendent within us, which does indeed transcend all reason, and is victorious against all odds.
The transcendent within us is the ultimate source for hope, since it is that which is the source of ultimate fulfillment and endures forever. Despite all that we may go through in life, they are but waves in the ocean of the transcendent, and from that we may find eternal rest. May you have hope in your life, and have hope beyond reason, that you may express the nature of the transcendent within us, the true final hope of our being.