Pictures of Hope

Hope is one of our central emotions, but we are often at a loss when asked to define it.  Many of us confuse hope with optimism, a prevailing attitude that "things turn out for the best." But hope differs from optimism.

Hope does not arise from being told to "think positively," or from hearing an overly rosy forecast.  Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality. 

Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see - in the mind's eye - a path to a better future.  Hope acknowledges the significant obstacles and deep pitfalls along that path.  True hope has no room for delusion.  Clear-eyed, hope gives us the courage to confront our circumstances and the capacity to surmount them.

~ from The Anatomy of Hope by Jerome Groopman, M.D.

I took the photo above during a particularly cold morning walk into the school to pick up my son.  Taken on my ipod, the quality is questionable...  it's impossible to see the frost that coated the branches or the snow crystals reflecting the light in this photo.  Even though it does not appear so in this image, in my mind's eye, it truly was a thing of beauty.  

With my ipod in hand, permit me to share the following ~ a picture journal from tonight:

Thank You and Thursdays

The hot cup of coffee, 

an answered prayer;

A kindred spirit sharing laughter 

in the midst of loss;

The symbolism of something greater 

in the most simplest of forms.

The choices we make - 

choosing joy, choosing peace;

Scraps of memories rediscovered 

though distance separates;

The kind gesture 

of a beautiful heart.

These are the things,

and this is the stuff...

Surrounded by love,

rooted in grace ~

the Blessing of

Immeasurably more.