Sometimes we might be tempted to utter:  “Hope?….seems like there is a lot more heartbreak than hope some days”.  Well, I’m a firm believer that even when the glass can appear to be half empty, we always have the invitation to refill the glass with more- more hope, more compassion, more mercy, more human kindness.  Yes, healing takes time and we cannot fill our glasses of life

Perhaps the Mission of Hope Logo and motto can serve to share what our focus can and should be.  The logo is a circle of children around the earth and on the outside of the circle are the words, “Hearts and hands working together to improve lives”.  By way of information, a small group of students and adults, created this logo shortly after our very first Mission 20 years ago.  In my mind, it is still timely, and gives a universal message of hope.  In fact, we’ve learned over the years that other groups, individuals, etc., have used a similar logo and so, that tells me that indeed, it is still apropos for our world today.  

Yes, there’s no doubt that each day unfolds with lots of news reports of tragedy, heartbreak, disasters that are both natural and, also some which are human made.  Yet, it is also true that for each story of violence, war, tragedy, disaster and heartbreak, there is an inspiring story of compassion, kindness, and hope.

Naomi Shihab Nye once wrote:  “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each of us could heal and learn to live as “wounded healers”, as people who have known heartbreak so well, that we can share hope equally as well?

Somewhere I recall reading that all hearts break- some break brittle and become callous.  Some break OPEN and become soft and with a great capacity to love.  I think that’s what it means to be filled with hope.

Mary Oliver said it this way:  

“I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again
to the rest of the world.”

So, yes, when our hearts break, we can further break them and others’ hearts, simply leading to more heartache.  Or, we can take our fragile wounded hearts and heal in such a way that our hearts become hope for others, that we become a source of hope, not heartache.

So… I invite you to raise a glass tonight- raise a glass filled with hope, with compassion and mercy and human kindness!  Indeed, we can take the half empty glasses of heartache and turn them into full glasses of hope!

Live and be Hope today.

Sr. Debbie Blow