I want to spend a few moments pondering the one thing we are able as human beings to offer one another which can positively impact our lives. Without this one thing our lives are miserable and filled with unmeasurable sorrow. One thing is able to turn the bad into good, the good into better and the rest into the best days of our lives. It is the one thing which we can self-generate, receive from others or yearn for when it is not present. 
It can only be stifled by insistence, trumped by fear and bottled up by ignorance. It is the one thing which allows peace in war, happiness in sickness and riches in poverty. If you have ever had any of it, I hope you recognize it.
Hope is the essential element in victory, in joy, in satisfaction and even in prosperity. Hope drives that which is not and can never be into the realm of possibility. It is not within itself a power or an employable asset to vanquish the ever present enemies in our lives. It cannot be purchased; for even the act of purchasing indicates an existing acknowledgement of the hope which believes the solution lies in the purchase. There is no tangible place from which to draw the salve of hope. There is no concrete manual for determining the necessary measure of hope to overcome despair. It is in a prompting, a stimulation, even a dream of a reality changed from what is, where you will find hope begins. It begins in the heart which acknowledges that all is not as it could be, but it can be.
My hope is that you will understand, grasp and employ the element of hope I am describing. It is my driving motivation. It is the purpose for these pages to be cluttered with the symbols which make sense to some. My mind goes back to a time in middle school when the music instructor asked us to play the notes indicated on the sheet before us. They were ordered so that if they were performed as presented that a joyful melody could result. There was an understanding on the instructor’s part that we were not all skilled sufficiently to accomplish their desire. Yet the presence of hope allowed our instructors to endure the testing of their ears and anticipate the joy to come.
We too, as students, had hope that we could conquer the techniques and produce laudable tunes. We somehow knew that their hope and our hope were linked. But when hope expired and resources of time and patience ran dry, some would stagger under their dismal load that all hope of success would perish. Some with lesser talent and abilities might continue in hope through the molding and instruction to arrive at a place of acceptable performance. I played a coronet in those days. I was able to attain a measure of success. It sounded good as it fit in with others. The hope strengthened the desire and drive to achieve the sought after pleasure.
Some strive for financial rewards in life. With the guidance and examples of others who have achieved the level of their desire, they hope to be wealthy. Some want to be the best race car driver, rocket scientist, heart surgeon or something. Their hope is to achieve what common sense might tell them is unattainable. The evidence of the past and failures of some to accomplish the same goal might deter them. That is when the word of hope, fruitfully spoken, is not just an encouraging word but a forest fire of resilience to burn away doubt and persevere through to the successful end. Hope doesn’t make anything happen. It just makes the possibility a reality.
The one good thing which you can offer another human being is hope. Whether laying in a sick bed on death’s doorstep, or entering the first day of kindergarten class, hope is profitable. Hope does not assure the cancer patient they will survive. It simply makes the possibility believable. Hope doesn’t protect the young child from fears or bullying or abuse. It simply says those things are not the end of their world. Nor does it mean the path we might desire is the one we get to go through. A cancer patient may lose a limb or organ and continue in life. A student may fail a grade and still graduate in the end.
There was a time when my wife and I were dating that I saw how very much she admired a friend who could play the guitar well. I too desired that admiration from her. So unknown to her, I hoped and took lessons for years to be able to impress her. It was heart wrenching when one of the most talented instructors suggested I might do better with another instrument. I just didn’t have it. Yet the encouraging hope swelled to complete accomplishment when I learned to play the mountain dulcimer to her delight and my reward. The path I followed did not follow my plan but was hemmed with hope and guidance to produce the joy of success. Hope is the electrifying pump for the soul. Hope is the power which cannot be beaten. Hope, it is said, springs eternal. Hope is always there. Hope is what we can give one another without any physical resource being used.
A smile, and encouraging word, an acknowledgement of something well done, even a gentle touch are baskets of hope poured out on hungry souls. In the worst of circumstances hope stops the circumstance from having victory. The psalmist declared “Oh death where is your sting, oh grave where is you victory?” It was said in that precious moment when heaven is the hope and eternal life is the victory. Hope is not for that which you already have but for that which you desire and cannot yet claim. Hope is the greatest gift one human being can give to another. Hope is the power to overcome generations and mountains. Hope drinks in oceans and fills lowest valleys with songs of praise.
I know how it feels when I raise hope as the flourishing banner of my life and also hen I allow it to crumble under a mountain of despair. I have no problem understanding others need of it and my great blessing in providing it as I am able. All of us need hope. We need to believe. We thrive in the presence of calamity when hope fills our sails. We who are the children of the living God derive powerful hope from the proven promises in His Word, the Holy Bible. We are strengthened by sharing the hope of the truth which is Him. He is our life, our hope and our truth. I hope you know this.