What is hope? The meaning of hope has been on my mind lately, so I’ve decided to think more on the topic in 2015. It seems both healthy and timely.
We live in an era when millions of good things are happening, yet we grow weary with despair. We worry about our broken political system, the rise of extremism, the violence in our schools, the pervasiveness of greed in our culture, the wealth disparity, high taxes, ISIS, the Byzantine health care system, immigration reform, Putin/Russian aggression, measles outbreaks, and out of control social media.
It’s endless what we can find to worry about. And much of it is contrived.
Last week I played golf with a friend who retired from a government job. On several occasions he complained about the work ethic being lost in America. Really? Dude, have you visited Silicon Valley lately? I understand concern about entitlement, but Americans are the hardest working people on the planet.
A few Sundays ago a preacher complained about the decline of character and integrity in America. Really? You think it’s any worse today than when slavery was an approved institution? Or when children died working in sweatshops hidden in the cities? Or when our President authorized illegal break-ins? You really think it’s any worse than the good old days?
Years ago I asked my father why he thought he had thrived in business when others had failed. Was it intelligence? Hard work? Luck?
“A bit of them all,” he answered. “But probably the biggest reason was hope in the future. I was willing to take a risk because I wasn’t filled with fear. Most businesses are run by smart, hard working people. But they become paralyzed listening to all the rumors and negativity. My business took off when I tuned out the hearsay and focused on the good happening around me.”
The lack of hope — despair, worry, anxiety, negativity, bitterness, cynicism, distrust, or fear — can sneak into our hearts and minds. But hope is transforming and freeing.
So my goal for 2015 is to read one book a month to better understand the meaning of hope. In part because the only people I know who are fundamentally improving the world are those who live by hope, offer hope, nurture hope, or even demand hope.
I asked several dozen friends for book recommendations including my old college buddy Steve Bagdanov, theologian Miroslav Volf, the insightful Nancy Ortberg, my long time friend and former Westmont President Stan Gaede, prayer warrior Pete Greig, and the irrepressible Brenda Salter-McNeil. Reaching out to friends on nearly every continent from all walks of life, I gathered together a nice list of books on hope. I chose several of the recommendations (I continue to seek out new ones if you have suggestions) and in 2015 I’ll be posting thoughts about each of them.
The first is posted below, a wonderful book by Lewis Smedes. Take a look, and join me on this journey of hope in 2015.
