By Jody Breton (ChIME 2011)
Hope. The inexhaustible, infinitely accessible energy of the human spirit. Unlike the empty shelves and bins recently seen in retail stores across the nation temporarily void of basic commodities Hope is ever available. Sourced by the Field of all Possibility within the Matrix of Life hope needs only to be conjured up by the heart of the seeker. But where is hope found actually?
My husband and I have found creative ways to entertain ourselves during our voluntary isolation practice brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and our interest in helping to flatten the curve of it’s spread. I had an idea to pack a picnic and take a drive somewhere as an adventure. Growing up my family would do this on Sundays after church and it was a lot of fun. We would pick a place within an hour or so drive where we had not been before. Along the way we would play car games such as “I spy”. So on this particular day I suggested to my husband that we take a journey to find Hope. Hope, Maine that is. So we did just that! Skeptic as he is, my husband Dave asked, “why Hope”? What was in Hope exactly that would suggest it was a worthy destination? My immediate answer was “why not Hope”? That morning I received a calling, if you will, to drive to Hope as an intentional act to conjure hope within myself and to play with the metaphor created of hope being an actual destination that one arrives at. And I am always up for an adventure. I knew that there was a gift waiting in Hope just for us. As there is for all when we intentionally seek hope in our lives.
But finding Hope in our lives is not always as easy as getting in the car and using GPS to help us navigate. What are our navigational tools? What paths do we follow? What are our sign posts? And how do we read the signs; will we know them to see them? What informs our language and understanding of reading those signs? Would we know hope when we found it? Do we arrive at hope, enter it or does it enter us? Do we use words to know hope? Music, art, nature, children? What is our lens, our perspective on hope? All of these questions pervade my thoughts as I seek to define hope in ways others might find their compass direction pointing toward hope.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. Emily Dickinson
Perhaps I may leave a few bread crumbs for you to follow. As I understand it hope is not a thing that can be plucked off a shelf and used at will. It is however a destination, a landing place for our suffering. Hope is an energy of the heart and a fuel for our spirits that is created through a desire for change toward the perceived betterment of our and others circumstances. The dictionary states that hope is both a noun and a verb. As I see it hope can be a fiery catalyst for transformation or a place held within our consciousness and felt in our hearts. Hope is uniquely defined by the seeker. A desire for a particular thing;” I hope that the sun shines tomorrow.” Or ” I hope that the test comes back negative”. And if our petition is granted and the sun shines or the test is negative then hope settles in our bones softly. The path was clear, easy sailing. But what if it rained- hard? And the test was positive. What then of hope? Wrong turn? It is times such as these where steering for a larger view of hope becomes our guide, “Recalculating”.
If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment. Henry David Thoreau
I drop a crumb….perhaps hope asks of us to journey beyond the immediate and see the broader landscape. It rained on my wedding day but the rainbow we had made the photos gorgeous. The test was positive but the doctors say my condition is treatable. The journey may feel a bit like playing leap frog jumping from one hope to another yet hope looms large in the distance.The rainbow becomes our sign of the sun returning; the curable diagnosis a sign of potential days and years to come.
Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows. Helen Keller
And what of our biggest hopes? I hope that all the waters of our earth will become clean and abundant to all. Far, far reaching. Hope is as vast as the capacity of our hearts and our ability to dream. That is my sign, my guidepost. My heart is my compass and my dreams are the highways.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Hope is found in whatever your heart is connected to; mine is connected to my faith; to my belief in the wisdom of Higher Consciousness that I call God, Creator, Universe and by Nature.
It may be in the beauty of a cardinal in a tree covered with snow; in the coo of a newborn baby or a favorite hymn. For some it can be that first cup of coffee in the morning or a hug from a dear friend. Before social distancing became a strict necessity I went into my local health food store to replenish some staples when I ran into a colleague of mine who I hadn’t seen in a long time. We smiled deeply at each other and moved to embrace when we stopped, looked at each other and without a word broke into a dance of elbow bumps, hip checks and booty bumps as if we were dancing the Marcarana! This surprising encounter filled me with a sense of hope despite the turn of events for our global community at this time. I see compassionate gazes from patrons in the check out lines, congenial conversations and courteous gestures where I did not to the same degree prior to the pandemic. Hope in aisle 5.
Walk on with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone. Shah Rukh Khan
I invite you to set your course onto previously untraveled routes to destination Hope. Know that you are never alone. Others are traveling with you and are waiting there for you now.
Megunticook Lake - Hope, Maine
(About the Author: After a 35 year career in western medicine and a lifetime personal journey and initiation into spiritual awakening, Jody Breton stepped fully into a path of service as practitioner, teacher, minister and mentor for her community nearly a decade ago as Essence of Spirit Ceremonies. To learn more, visit www.maineshamanism.com , www.maineofficiants.com or email maineofficiants@gmail.com)
