This posting was first published on 5 August 2020 and revised on 31 December 2023 and on 6 January 2024
From darkness to light, from pain to healing: The transformative power of hope
Photo via LinkedIn
Today (31 December) is a significant day, the last day of 2023 and tomorrow we will begin a new day, a new year. Many philosophers of love, the sages of wisdom and light have reminded us of one thing, and that is the Power of HOPE, without which there will be no tomorrow and no meaningful and rewarding life.
Please read the piece below and allow me to share with you the lessons and the wisdom I have learnt from the sages of Love and Hope: Yes, they have told us that Spring will come, and flowers will bloom!
Photo via travel.earth
This year, hope, very much resonates with me. It has a more profound meaning and relevance. I am hoping for many positive outcomes in my own struggles and daily challenges. Above all, I am hoping for better things for my wife trying so hard to cope with the consequences of her stroke in August.
I am hoping that, once again, she will be able to do things we used to take for granted, reading books, reciting poetry, telling stories to our grandchildren, going for lovely Nordic walks, swimming, going to the cinema, theatre, concerts, meeting up with friends, travelling, and much more.
Hope nourishes my soul, warms up my heart, raises my spirit and encourages me to be resilient and indeed, believing that, life is great, every breath we take is priceless and precious.
Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash
Nota bene
The Secret of Wisdom & Hope
What is this life all about? Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? What’s my Life’s purpose? How can I make the most of my Life?...
The Persian poet, sage and philosopher of love, Rumi, had this to say about wisdom and hope: “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” He also has reminded us that “What You Seek Is Seeking You” and “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do”. These beautiful sayings are, to my mind, Rumi’s way of saying that our lives have purpose and meaning, and moreover, we should not despair and walk on with hope and commitment.
It is the wise who understand that true knowledge is self-knowledge; that the meaning of life lies in understanding one’s own mind.
One of the main goals of the GCGI has always been to seek wisdom, both ancient philosophy and modern thought, and to share these gems of hope by making them both accessible to all and relevant to the way we live today.
To fulfil our mission, we have always done our utmost to bring the light of wisdom and hope to everyday life. Read on to find out more.
The world needs hope; every person, everywhere, needs hope. HOPE gives us life. HOPE connects us. HOPE fuels us. HOPE moves us. HOPE keeps us. HOPE grounds us. HOPE protects us. HOPE anchors us.
As far back as the 6th century BC, the Greek poet Theognis of Megara said: “Hope is the one good god remaining.” The poet Theo Dorgan reminds us that hope is a profound act of imagination, the most important and the most neglected of the civic virtues. In the face of the present societal and global crises we can lie down in despair, or we can choose hope — which means placing all our faith in each other and in the boundless capacity of the imagination to reinvent circumstance, to establish new truths.
Spring will come, and flowers will bloom!
Yearning in Hope
The burst of daffodils in March summons us to a new beginning, encouraging us to move away from what has hurt us or haunted us in the past, inviting us to dream again, to be hopeful again.
Dancing Daffodils, a painting by John Nolan
Don’t Despair Walk on: This is the Hope of Christmas
New Year calls us to hope beyond despair and light beyond darkness
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Spring will come, and flowers will bloom!
‘Hope, a seemingly simple word, can transform lives. It's the driving force that propels us through challenges, encourages us to embrace new opportunities and ignites our pursuit of a brighter future. In a world often clouded by setbacks and uncertainties, hope acts as a guiding light, illuminating the path towards resilience and optimism.’- Beverly Landais
‘Hope springs eternal in the human breast,’ wrote Alexander Pope in his poem "An Essay on Man."
‘Hope is the belief we hold during tough times that things will get better. Hope is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means to want, expect, anticipate or yearn. As a noun it suggests optimism, anticipation, possibility and promise.’- Countway Library
‘Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.’ — Desmond Tutu
‘ 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.
A beautiful metaphor, one that can both console and inspire.
At times like this, when our world and everything around us are falling apart, crisis after crisis,
the season’s message of optimism and hope is much needed.
N.B.We must never forget that inequality, poverty, climate crises, intolerance, racism, xenophobia, wars, conflicts, neoliberalism and exploitation, all have arisen by design and not by chance, leading to despair and hopelessness. It is only by bringing back hope into our lives that we will enable and empower ourselves to defeat this perpetuating cycle of self-harm and destruction. It is our hopelessness which has created broad feelings of frustration, discontent, anger and apathy for life that has empowered the likes of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump and their rise to power. We must become hopeful again, believing in ourselves and defeating the enemies of humanity. We must never ever forget the hopelessness and despair of 1930s Europe. Never again! Carpe diem!
…but hope gives us the impetus to seek the betterment of our lives and others
Photo by Greg Rakozy,
In this troubled world the path of hope will save us
Our Path of Hope is about many things. It is about challenging the norm. It is about volunteerism and service. It is about serving our communities, our world, and caring for our planet, our home. It is about finding out more about ourselves than we ever imagined possible. It is about having a dream. It is about a mission and our vocation in life. It is about believing in our journey and stories. It is all about hope.
‘It is hope that can give meaning to life and which will give us the courage
to continue on our way into the future together.’
The world is in a crisis—Humanity has exhausted its ego and doesn’t know what to do'
And this is why HOPE is truly what our troubled and in pain world is craving for this time of multiple crises
We must remain positive. We must remain hopeful
'In short, although, this is a turbulent era; paradoxically, it is also a period of tremendous opportunity, a time of enormous Hope for creating a much better future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our community, our country, our world. We need to see this Hope for a better future and play our part in building it.'
Everywhere in the world, our trust and faith in now and the future has been severely shaken. Material wealth has proved to be a false God. There is no longer a certainty in a better, kinder future, and many institutions that we may have trusted — government, business, politics, economics, financial institutions, education, media, and dare I say, even religious organisations — have all failed us. We have been let down.
We are now living in a world that is increasingly hard for people to understand, comprehend, predict and feel safe about, and thus, people of all ages are finding it hard to see hope in their lives. Hopelessness is now ruling the world, bringing us all misery and sickness.
Lest We Forget:
“We Are Here for the Sake of One Another”
Despite our best efforts, the modern world remains a lonely place, where it can be hard to find conversation and friendship which feels authentic and thoughtful. In an age where social interaction all too often takes the form of trivial memes, polarised arguments, conducted via meaningless and scattergun tweets, we need to navigate new paths to help us connect with each other on a more meaningful and hopeful level.
That New Path is Called the Path of Hope!
The Path of Hope by Cicakkia
The world needs hope; every person, everywhere, needs hope. HOPE gives us life. HOPE connects us. HOPE fuels us. HOPE moves us. HOPE keeps us. HOPE grounds us. HOPE protects us. HOPE anchors us.
As far back as the 6th century BC, the Greek poet Theognis of Megara said: “Hope is the one good god remaining.” The poet Theo Dorgan reminds us that hope is a profound act of imagination, the most important and the most neglected of the civic virtues. In the face of the present societal and global crises we can lie down in despair, or we can choose hope — which means placing all our faith in each other and in the boundless capacity of the imagination to reinvent circumstance, to establish new truths.
We are not mean people. We have hearts and minds, we care for each other still, we have our dreams, and in dreams, as the poet Delmore Schwartz once said, “In dreams begin responsibilities”.
Moreover, ‘Hope’- as many wise teachers have reminded us- is a driving force for transformation, innovation, economic and social betterment and personal wellbeing. Hope, often articulated as an endorsed desire for a future which is uncertain, has a clear economic significance as do the unfortunate opposites such as anxiety and inertness. Hence, hope is more than just an emotion or an optimistic attitude. It is related to reason and prudence in the sense of one’s rational assessment of a difficult situation, possible solutions and the prediction of changes. Hope is as complex and ambiguous as the human person itself. For many centuries philosophers and theologians have reflected on the meaning of hope. More recently hope has drawn the attention of the young discipline of positive psychology. Also in economics, attempts are made to define the concept and measure its effects, opening up the way for policy interventions.
A world reimagined
Hope is the Beginning of Reimagining a Better World, a Better Life
Photo: pinterest.com
“We do not need magic to transform the world. We carry all the power we need inside of us already. We have the power to imagine better.” - J.K. Rowling
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.” - Albert Einstein
So now by coming together we can begin to imagine the world we are HOPING for, so that we may begin to build it.
Imagine a political system that puts the public first. Imagine the economy and markets serving people rather than the other way round. Imagine us placing values of kindness, respect, fairness, interdependence, and mutuality at the heart of our economy. Imagine an economy that gives everyone their fair share, at least an appropriate living wage, and no zero-hour contracts. Imagine where jobs are accessible and fulfilling, producing useful things rather than games of speculation and casino capitalism. Imagine where wages support lives rather than an ever expanding chasm between the top 1% and the rest. Imagine a society capable of supporting everyone’s needs, and which says no to greed. Imagine unrestricted access to an excellent education, healthcare, housing and social services. Imagine hunger being eliminated, no more food banks and soup kitchens. Imagine each person having a place he/she can call home. Imagine all senior citizens living a dignified and secure life. Imagine all the youth leading their lives with ever-present hope for a better world. Imagine a planet protected from the threat of climate change now and for the generations to come. Imagine no more wars, but dialogue, conversation and non-violent resolution of conflicts. Imagine a world free of corruption!
This is the world we wish to see, and we believe we have the means to build it, if we take action in the interest of the common good.
I exhort you to imagine what we can achieve together if we allow such a vision of values to guide our choices.
Kamran Mofid,
Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative