Hope and Change

There has been a lot of talk in these last few years about hope.  So much so, that I almost cringe whenever I hear the word.  It's on bumper stickers and billboards and t-shirts.  It's been on campaign signs and in headlines.  There was a time, in the not so distant past, where it seemed I couldn't go an hour without hearing the word hope.

The kind of "in" thing has been to put the two words, "hope" and "change" together.  I've just found this so frustrating.  How can things change if I only hope they'll change?  Don't I have to put forth some sort of effort in order to bring about real and lasting change?  I learned today, while reading, that hope really is an action verb. 

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.  (Ether 12:4)

Real hope, true hope, comes from a foundation of faith.  A faith in the only One who has the power to effect real, positive change in our lives.  Faith leads to hope.  Hope leads to steadfastness and good works.  Steadfastness and good works lead us to glorifying God, which adds to our faith.  It is one eternal round.

©Darrell Wyatt

This is the Lovejoy fountain in Portland, OR.  Ever since the first time I saw this photograph, I have been taken with it.  The way the water flows over and around each of the sculptures is mesmerizing to me.  The fountain would likely be beautiful without one or more of the formations, but it would be much different.  Each pile of stones is placed in a way that the flow of the water will change as it hits it.  I can't help but liken these three rock sculptures to faith, hope and charity.  We are as the water, moving through our daily lives toward some distant destination.  As we let ourselves become impacted by faith and then hope and then charity, we cannot help but feel a change.  We are changed. 

Hope, true hope, is not a bumper sticker.  It is not a campaign slogan.  It is not a catchphrase.  True hope is a catalyst for real change.  As Moroni said, true hope is "an anchor to the souls of men".

Some may find true hope to be elusive.  To them, I say, in the words of Moroni:

And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen. (Ether 12:41)

Click here to read what I read today: Ether 11

Click here to read what I read today: Ether 12