Hope

My hope was cast forward, into the black,
And I trailed after as best as I could.
The light meandered – it left then came back –
And beckoned me on after if I would.

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I remember that when I wrote this, I was thinking about how hope lives both within us and outside of us, in the unknown future, and that we express and possess it through our actions. Hope is the desire that animates our actions. Faith or belief set the course, and then hope inspires action.

Nevertheless, not all beliefs or desires are wise or advisable. Some might say though, that having hope in the wrong thing is better than having no hope at all. Perhaps that’s true. Better still, though, would be having hope in the right thing.

We wrestle with these concepts all the time, in our lives and in the art we consume. The clip below is one of my favorite explorations of these themes.

faith

interjection

1. By my faith; in truth; verily.
   Similar: verily

noun

The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth.

Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.
Similar: belief

hope /hōp/

intransitive verb

To desire and consider possible: synonym: expect.”I hope that you will join us for dinner. We hope to buy a house in the sprin

To wish for a particular event that one considers possible. “We are hoping for more financial support. “

To have confidence; trust.

Faith is an assent of the mind toward an idea. Hope then is the desire to act on faith. Faith without hope can be rather bleak, just as hope without a well-grounded faith can be self-destructive.

Originally published on October 6, 2021