Where hope grows

For those who follow the life and teachings of Christ, Easter symbolizes hope more than anything; hope of beating the odds, of rising after having ‘fallen.’ I learnt at a young age that true courage was bravery in the presence of fear, not only presenting itself in all too perfect circumstances, but in situations diametrically opposed to it’s purpose. So too hope is often found flourishing where the worlds have conspired against, plotted it’s demise, and arranged for it’s burial. Hope thrives, if given the chance, even in unfriendly, even hostile environments.

Popular child psychologist James Dobson referred to a study which scrutinized the conditions which produced some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, and found that among those lives examined, including Albert Einstein, around three-quarters had an upbringing that was far less than ideal, sometimes broken, almost always traumatic. The other quarter were those with physical disabilities. It seems that the great desire to free themselves from the conditions in which they grew, gave rise to a fervent hope that impelled their dream for a better existence.

Regardless of where you look in our post-modern, technologically-determined, materially-bent world today, you will never be short of finding situations which far less than desirable for optimism to pervade. Nevertheless, it does. You’re still sure to find a young man pursuing the hope of bettering the lives of others, perhaps through commitment to a particular field of study, because his world has been darkened by ignorance. There is no doubt still the old woman who continues to share life’s many joys because one day lost is one day too many. If one looks, one will find the man, the woman rising again after being punished by intolerable cruelty, for even there, Hope grows!