Thoughts on Hope

You know, as El-ahrairah have begun our life together, I've often wondered about what thing(s) will be our Big Trial. There are so many people around the world that deal with Big Trials. What will ours be? Infertility? Accident? Chronic illness? Depression? There's no end to the possibilities -- and I don't ponder them in a doom-and-gloom kind of way, I just wonder.

And maybe worry a little bit. As the circle of people that I care about grows, or grows closer as it did with marriage, the stakes are even higher. But I came across the "The Power of Hope" Mormon Message today.

If you haven't see it, basically it's a bunch of nice photos voiced over by a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I found it on the Nie Nie Dialogues blog; the author of that blog has definitely had a Big Trial herself. (You might have heard of her -- she was in a plane crash and was burned on over 80% of her body.)

As I watched it, I thought about how hope has always been my favorite of the faith-hope-charity trio, perhaps because it seems like the seed. You don't need to do much to hope, although it can be very hard. To me, faith requires action, as does charity, but hope is the smallest -- the instigator. It's a thought that grows into the other two. It's what you have when there's nothing left.

My favorite quote from Elder Uchtdorf's talk is this: "And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in. Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your spirit." I recently read Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, a nonfiction book about a 1914 expedition to Antarctica. The author often mentioned that the men of the crew very nearly gave into despair, but their leaders spoke and acted with determination and optimism. The crew knew that all they had left was hope, and so they held on to it when everything else was lost. And every single one of those men returned home alive.

Pretty good book.

Those things that haven't even happened to me yet -- my Big Trial that's yet to be -- they can hardly be prepared for. I mean, it's not like you can have an emergency plan for every possible crisis. But I realized that the best way to prepare for the unexpected is by increasing my understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Its infinite applications means that it's kind of a universal preparation plan. And that's comforting to me.

-Owlet