ALWAYS HOPE!

By -
There are so many gifts I'd like to write about tonight...but I think I'll save those thoughts for another day...because right now...the best I have to offer is a measure of hope.

There is always hope. Never give up the belief that hope is alive and well and waiting for your kind consideration. That's all it takes to believe that the next day, the next move, the next moment will be better than the present-no matter how bad things seem to be right now.

I have always felt an internal hopeful optimism even when the outside looked dismally gray...because somewhere within I could feel the pulsating energy of all that is good and kind and qualified to inspire great joy and unending happiness. I've always believed in amazing hope...amazing grace...and amazing results when we rally around hope.

I felt that hope tonight as a young 20 year old heroine addict talked about how he is trying to get off drugs-permanently. He lasted a week before picking up a needle and shooting more misery into his veins. But here he was tonight, honestly sharing his pain, his desire to stop and his hope that one day at a time, he will beat his addiction.

He touched me...and taught me-that no matter how bad it seems, or how low we've fallen or how difficult the climb...there is always hope. This young man gave me hope- and a feeling of levity.
In the face of one so young, I saw a resolve to do better, a determination to believe in himself...and the hope that one day he would become the sum of all of his dreams. And I knew beyond a doubt-that he could do it. And that knowing...that internal wisdom...gave me hope that anything-anything at all- is not only possible-it is probable-when hope is kept alive!

Comments

Mike said…
May Lou, you are so right. It is easy to give up on others and even ourselves. Fortunately, we serve a God that never gave up on us and we just have to tap into HIS strength at our times of weaknesses. Well written. Thanks for reminding us.
May 16, 2009
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUBLIME AUDACITY!

By -
Image
I have all the signs and symptoms of something I just learned about today...Sublime Audacity. That's right...I have the audacity to believe-that anything is possible-anything at all-with God. In fact, I believe that there is one cure for all the world's ills...and that cure rests with -and in God. In a world of material wealth, individual desires and carefully orchestrated managed care...When people search the world over for the answers that never come, the healings that rarely happen and the hope that always gets dashed by the next person...I believe that there is only one steady stream of consciousness that always gets it right...and that is God. I've personally experienced it time and again and every time I look elsewhere or seek some other solution, I always come crawling back to the staying power of my higher power...Because let's face it...Once we have the audacity to tell anyone-anyone at all that God is responsible for all the good in our lives or the Love that
Read more

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more