“The word which God has written on the brow of every man is Hope” Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
I took Julie to see Les Miserables at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. We sat up really, really high. I needed glasses, but hadn’t gotten any yet. Needless to say, I couldn’t see who was who on stage. I also didn’t know the story. I was trying to read the program to figure out what was going on the whole time. Then, I realized everyone was singing. I had two options: be quiet or ask Julie repeatedly what was going on. To her displeasure and of those around us, I chose the latter. I was hoping to figure out what was going on. She was just hoping I would be quiet!
Hope.
A word. An expression. A belief. An invisible inscription etched into the deepest part of each one of us.
But, hope can be elusive, fleeting and unfathomable at times.
Hope, whose whisper would have given Balm to all my frenzied pain, Stretched her wings, and soared to heaven, Went, and ne’er returned again! –Emily Bronte, Hope
The simplicity of hope is born in the heart of every man and woman. It is the troubles of life that seek to quench, squash and squelch our hopes. We live in an imperfect world, filled with imperfect people and imperfection at every turn. These imperfections affect our hopes. Because hope is born of faith and built on trust. Hope is held by our confidences and lost by our insecurities. By hope, one one hand, we scale immeasurable heights, to later on the other hand, barely put one foot twelve inches in front of the other!