Hope is a remedy for all sorts of hardships and misfortunes. Hope enables us to cope with stressful events, such as an elderly father who’s dying in a hospital bed. Hope motivates us to persevere when our lives are infused stressful life situations or painful events. The unemployed person searching for work is inspired by the image of a new job to pay the bills and purchase a few of life’s comforts, perhaps a television, iPad, new pair of blue jeans, money to fill the refrigerator with food.
Hope assists the sick person in getting well, encouraging them to do what it takes to recover. It reassures them, “you’ll get better.”
Hope comforts the dying and gives them courage to face the unknown. It whispers “there’s life beyond death.” It also comforts the grieving who has lost loved ones, enabling them to pass through the five stages of grief, finally accepting, but never forgetting.
Hope provides the gift of faith. It instills the will to believe, motivates a person to read sacred texts, to engage in prayer and meditation, to contemplate the mysteries of life and find answers. Hope reminds us to live a moral life—to be compassionate and kind.