Hope

Hope. Is it an illusive concept to you? How can we define hope? Emily Dickenson, the poet, described it as "the thing with feathers that perches in your soul." A somewhat "flimsy" picture, don't you think? The writer of Hebrews in the Bible defined it "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." That's much more solid! I read an interesting book called The Anatomy of Hope by Dr. Jerome Groopman. During his 30-yr. career as a medical doctor dealing mostly with cancer patients, he has seen the astonishing effects that hope, or the lack of it, can have on an illness. He tells several stories of patients. One is of his colleague diagnosed with a cancer for which there really was no treatment. But this doctor had the courage to put himself on a most rigourous schedule of treatments and he survived. He recited Psalm 23 before, during and after treatments. He took note that during the easy times in the psalm, (green pastures, still waters) the song-writer refers to God as "He." During the troubled times (valley of death, enemies) he addresses God intimately as "You." A closer relationship - an increase in hope. The Old Testament word for hope has it's origin in a Hebrew word meaning "a twisted cord to bind together." The New Testament word for hope is translated as "confident expectation." In the Scriptures this "confident expectation" is always based or "anchored" in the Person of God. Now for some physical facts. Dr. Groopman says that hope is an elevating feeling we experience when we see - in our mind's eye - a path to a better future. Hope releases endorphins into our system - elevating our mood. Hope, confident expectation, the capacity to see a better outcome, also gives us courage and reduces fear of treatments. Now fear/anxiety is detrimental to our physical being. It activates a number of physiological changes in our bodies that in the long-run are harmful. These changes depress our immune system. If hope makes us feel better and also reduces fear with it's harmful effects, then hope is good for the body as well as the soul! Dr. Groopman says that true hope has proved as important as any medication he might prescribe! The book brought me back to my own journey with cancer ten years ago. I remember trying to find something that would encourage me to put my hope in God. passages of Scripture, devotional books like Streams in the Desert I also put my "confident expectation" in the fact that if everything possible were done to treat the cancer, the outcome would be positive. For me that meant a year of weekly chemotherapy treatments and seeing a naturopath to help me care for my sick body. It also meant a change in lifestyle and diet, a waterpurifying system, ridding my house of toxic products, buying only "real" food, nothing processed, cured, smoked, processed, colored etc. and trying to avoid air pollutants as much as possible. My "confident expectation" was that if I would do what I could do, God would do what I couldn't do. My treatments ran from August to August. As I struggled with the debilitating effects of the chemo, my doctor would say, "We're not talking about being ill this year, we're talking about being well next summer." So I would visualize "next August." No more nausea, no more bowel pain, enjoying meals, going out etc. A better future! And that helped me to hang in, to be courageous and less fearful. And after a year - my hope was realized. I have a better future, and I have a stronger faith in a gracious God. Blessings as you continue to hope! A little child sang "Jesus loves me" backwards. She sang, "Jesus knows me, this I love." Angie NEXT: "A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart" BACK TO: "Archives"