Hope Inspires Endurance

Change. Transition. Hope. Change is inevitable. Transition requires letting go of our comfort zone to move from one place to the next. Hope is what inspires endurance for the passage.

My life has been filled with change, transition and hope: marriage and divorce; themes of love and betrayal; career, travel, change of career; loss of parents and birth of grandchildren. That's the gift of 60 years! Hope has been the glue that has sustained me throughout the many changes and transitions. Some of those changes I intentionally chose. Some felt forced upon me. But all have grown me as a person and developed me as a spiritual being. Throughout I have seen the reflection of Divine Love and grace, not always during the process but certainly upon reflection. And at the end of each transitional period I have recognized that hope is what has inspired me to endure uncomfortable changes and anticipate the transition that will lead to a new beginning. Hope.

My niece is one of the people who recently inspired me to reflect upon the importance of hope during difficult life experiences. She and her husband struggled with infertility for years, finding their way to the adoption that brought our beautiful Asher into the family three years ago. Their faith provided the foundation to allow hope. They continued to pray for another child, preferably one carried by her. Disappointments abounded during the transition period, ultimately leading to a miracle pregnancy and reviving hope in miracles. Now our family is awaiting the birth of Asher's baby brother. This brings added inspiration and hope for all of us who love this family and yearn for our own miracles.

The following passage about Divine Love comes from A Course in Miracles. It is a beautiful reflection on the truth of Divine Love and our responsibility to BE love as we walk through our personal challenges and transitions.

"Divine Love is not human 'romantic' love. It is of a spiritual nature, it is all-encompassing and unconditional. Divine Love is often attributed only to God and/or spiritual beings. Yet as we are all sparks of the Creator (the Divine), and as the Creator IS LOVE, we are therefore also Love - Divine Love is who we really are, yet in our human state and using mostly only our five senses, we have forgotten this and we perceive other people and animals and nature as 'separate' from ourselves. But we are all made of the same 'stuff' and are all therefore ONE and all connected. This is confirmed on a scientific level with Quantum Physics. It is our perception of separateness that causes all the woes we have in this world. What we do to one, we do to ourselves. There is NO separateness, only ONE-NESS."

Matin Luther King Jr. wrote about hope stating, "If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." (The Trumpet of Conscience)

May we never lose hope. No matter the challenges we face through periods of change and transition, may hope inspire endurance and encourage us to trust in the power of miracles, the Divine Love that brings about change, with ease and grace. May each of us become the inspiration that invokes hope in our friends and family, honoring Divine Love within ourselves and each other. Hope inspires endurance.