Hope

This is the talk I gave in Church today, more or less.

Hope:

As I began thinking about this subject, the first thing to come to mind was Emily Dickenson’s poem that begins, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”

It’s a lovely poem, in fact, one of her more positive ones. 

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

It describes hope as a bird, that never stops singing it’s sweet tune, is everywhere from “chillest land” to “strangest sea”, where it warms people, never asking a thing in return, and is not easily “abashed” except for by “the sorest storm.”

As I thought about this metaphor for hope, I found myself thinking that however beautiful it sounded in prose, this wasn’t exactly the same kind of hope taught to us within the context of the Gospel.  There was something lacking.

In everyday speech, the word “hope” gets used a lot: “I hope it’s not going to snow this weekend,” (or that it is if you’re a skier), “I hope I get what I asked Santa for,” or “I hope I don’t make a complete fool of myself while giving my talk today…”  :)

 I’m afraid that in the colloquial sense, “I hope,” becomes “I wish.”

So my purpose in speaking to you today is to help you to understand what hope is in the Gospel sense of the word, how we can acquire it, and how it can help us through the tough times in our lives which will surely come.

Hope, in the Gospel sense.

“Wishing” is not what Ether spoke of when he said, “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with ^asurety ^bhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God…” (Ether 12:4).

The key to the kind of hope we’re speaking about is found in that word, “Believeth” and if we keep going it continues, “which ^chope cometh of ^dfaith, maketh an ^eanchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast…”

So Faith is the key to Hope, but not just any faith; to further explain and clarify it, Mormon teaches us what kind of faith we must have in order to have this hope when he says, “Behold I say unto you that ye shall have ^bhope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life ^ceternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.” (Mni 7:41)

Faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ is what gives us hope –a “surety” of hope, or in the words of Nephi, “A perfect brightness of hope.” (2 Ne. 31:20)  that his promises will be fulfilled.

What a wonderful thing!

With the world’s use of the word hope there is a degree of uncertainty, but in the words of the scriptures, given to us from the mouths of the holy prophets, there is nothing more sure.

How to acquire hope.

So how do we acquire this hope?  While we live in such a world full of turmoil and suffering, hope is often hard to come by.  The very signs of the times include the prophecy that “men’s hearts shall fail them” (D&C 45:26).

In Moroni 10:22 we learn that “if ye have no hope ye must needs be in ^adespair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.”

Well of course it does!  Isn’t iniquity the very manifestation of a lack of Faith?

This includes not only sins of commission, but sins of omission. 

I admit that there have been times in my life when I have been very lax in my scripture study and personal prayer.  A few months after my first son was born, as the sleepless nights and constant fatigue of caring for a new baby dragged on, I found it difficult to get a shower, let alone read my scriptures, and although I tried to keep up my prayers, I often drifted off in the middle –if I even finished at all. One night, as I was feeding my little one in the wee hours of the morning, my mind was wandering and I was startled by the realization that if something bad happened to my baby or my husband, I wasn’t sure if I would have the faith needed to endure it.  I couldn’t say that I was confident that it was the Lord’s will, I couldn’t say that I wouldn’t doubt that there even was a God who cared about me, and I couldn’t say that believing in such a God wasn’t a mere fancy of the human race to make themselves feel better about things.  This realization shook me.  After all, I had been faithful all my life, I had gone on a mission, I been married in the temple, I was going to church each Sunday… however, for some time I had been neglecting those small yet important daily reminders and communions with the Spirit that are essential in keeping your faith bright and strong. It was a lesson to me just how easy it is to get casual about the gospel and be “lull[ed] away into carnal security” (2 Ne. 28:21).  When this happens we can lose sight of that hope. I confess I have had to dust off the old testimony more than once since then, but with a little work, it can burn bright again.

Mormon has taught us, “Wherefore, if a man have ^afaith he ^bmust needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.” (Mni 7:42)

In short, we acquire and maintain hope by nurturing our Faith, and we do that by obedience, by repentance, and by learning more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ through scripture study and prayer.

How hope can help us through the tough times in this life.

Once we understand who we are in relation to our Heavenly Father, our purpose here on earth, and what glory awaits those who endure to the end and are entitled to enter into His rest, we can have that hope which is spoken of in the Gospel sense of the word. 

It is the surety of hope that brings us peace and comfort in the face of adversity, it is the perfect brightness of hope that buoys up our spirits, and gives us a love for all mankind. And that brings me to the third part of this natural progression: Charity. 

You can’t speak of Faith and Hope without speaking of Charity.

In the Book of Mormon Reference Companion, under Hope, it reads, “As a person’s faith in Christ begins [to grow], his hope in Christ is awakened and strengthened.  His heart expands with greater love, even ‘perfect love,’ for others.  Thus personal hope springs from faith in Jesus Christ and leads to charity through the power of the comforter.”

I saw this process come to life So many times as people were converted to the gospel on my mission.

One young man in particular, stands out in my memory. Although I don’t recall his name --I only met him briefly, I won’t forget his story.   I met him when I traveled to a city in the west of Poland for a zone conference. My companion and I arrived at the meetinghouse late the night before, and since the Elders couldn’t be out past curfew, they asked this young man to escort us to where the other sisters lived. He had been helping them teach another one of their investigators, and according to the Elders, he was “on fire” when it came to sharing the gospel. He was very courteous and respectful as he helped us get our bags onto and off of the bus, and I felt quite safe with him as we walked the few blocks to the sisters’ apartment building through the darkened streets and alleyways. 

It wasn’t until the next day that I learned from the elders that the young man wasn’t a member.  I was surprised; I had assumed he was a member since he was constantly going with them to help on discussions.  I had an even bigger shock when I found out that although baptism was what he desired most, he was waiting patiently for permission from the First Presidency because years previously he had been a member of the mafia while he lived in Canada, and as such had done stuff… I won’t say what, we’ll just say …things that were contrary to the law, not to mention the Commandments (namely the 6^th).

I’m afraid I don’t know the rest of the story, I’d like to think that he is baptized now, forgiven of his sins, and is a strength to the Church in that area, but I just don’t know.  Still, what I gained from his example is a greater appreciation for the power of faith --which to a young man who had been through so much, gave such hope that he couldn’t help but share it with others.  It was like witnessing a real-life Alma the Younger –whose story of conversion is one of the most inspiring stories of hope and redemption that the Book of Mormon has to offer, and just like Alma the younger, his love of the Gospel and of all mankind was helping him, in a way, undo some of what he had done in years past as he taught others and awakened this hope in many.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’d like to return to the Emily Dickenson poem that I began with. I hate to be contrary, but I have to say that hope is not merely a thing with feathers; that is too fragile a picture.  For when the “sorest storm” arises, the kind of Hope that is centered, in faith, on the atonement of Jesus Christ, strengthened by our daily strivings, will stand firm like the house that was built upon the Rock. 

This is the Hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is the hope of eternal life given so freely through the merits of the Savior and the infinite mercy of a Loving Father in Heaven.  It is the assurance that whatever hardships we experience in this life, it is for “but a small moment” (D&C 121:7), and it is “for [our] good” (D&C 122:7), and that if we hold out faithful, enduring to the end, we will be “heirs… and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) of all that the Father has in store for us.

This is my prayer, that we may share this message of hope with the world, that all may partake of His Glory, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.