“Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith
there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity”
(Moroni 10:20).
In the Mormon world, we tend to hear a lot of talk about
developing charity and faith. Everything from Sunday School lessons to whole
chapters in the Book of Mormon get devoted to these two Christlike attributes. And
whenever faith and charity get grouped together, another Christlike attribute
always seems to pop up as well: that of hope. But whereas multiple scriptures
define faith and charity and detail exactly how we can develop them (see, for
example, Alma 32 or 1 Corinthians 13), scriptures
that break down hope seem much harder to find. What is hope? Why do we need it?
And what does it look like in everyday life?
Hope Defined
In modern lingo, we use the word hope to denote something that
we wish for but cannot control: I hope
the weather’s good today, I hope that
cute boy asks me on a date, I hope this
traffic doesn’t make me late to work. Our limited control over these outcomes
means that we have no guarantee that these wishes of ours will come true.
When I try to apply this definition to scriptural passages
about hope, however, it doesn’t quite seem to fit. Paul teaches that “we are
saved by hope” (Romans 8:24), but salvation seems too essential to our eternal well-being to come from
something as flimsy as wishful thinking. Moroni also speaks of hope, claiming it as “an
anchor to the soul” (Ether 12:4). But me hoping I’ll get an A on my paper does nothing to anchor
my soul; instead, it feels as if the nervous anticipation causes my heart to
get swept away with my thoughts until both feel the complete opposite of
anchored. How do I reconcile this disconnect between what I mean by the word
hope, and the blessings promised by these ancient prophets?
Turns out, the word hope hasn’t always had the definition it
has today. Like many words in the English language, its meaning has changed
throughout the centuries. At the time the scriptures were translated, its
definition was a feeling of trust.
So it’s not just wishful thinking, after all. It’s something
more tangible than that: trust. So now we know what hope means – but where
does this feeling of trust come from?
And how can we cultivate it for ourselves?
So now we know what hope means – but where does this feeling
of trust come from? And how can we cultivate it for ourselves?
The answer comes from Moroni: Hope is found “through the Atonement of
Christ." Our hope grows as we continuously apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ
in our own lives. As we follow the words of Christ as taught by the prophets,
we experience firsthand the power of Christ’s Atonement to heal and strengthen us,
spirit as well as body. This increases our hope – our trust – that the Savior will continue to strengthen and heal us. And
with this trust comes the reassurance
that even though we may not see a way to make those good things that we wish
for happen in our lives, our Heavenly Father has a plan, along with the power
to make that plan happen. God controls the outcomes, and with that knowledge we
have the guarantee that all we hope for will come true.
Now when we look back at those two verses, they make a lot
more sense. Our salvation comes through trusting
that the Savior can and will save us. This trust,
in turn, gives us motivation to stay anchored in following the Savior’s
teachings no matter what is going on around us, because we trust that from our efforts will come worthwhile results. Hope gives us
something to rely on when all around us feels unstable. It requires that we
yoke the emotion of trust with the action of obeying, the emotion motivating
the action and the action generating more of the emotion in a cyclical process.
In this way cultivating hope is similar to cultivating charity and faith.
One last question that has often puzzled me: How can "good things to come" affect
my current emotional state? How can something in my distant future make a
difference in my present bleakness?
Hope Applied
Surprisingly, to have hope does not mean that we solely focus on - and therefore live in - the future. It means that because we trust God to fulfill all His promises to us at some point in the future, we can then let go of our anxieties for what's to come, as well as our regrets over what has happened in our past, and thus become more anchored in the present moment.
My hope has developed slowly, over the course of several
years, and even as I write this post I know that still I have much to learn. As I have grown ever closer to the Savior, I have gained several insights about this feeling of trust that comes from Him:
Hope means moving forward: Not letting my past define my
present, but letting go of past pains and mistakes because I trust that the Atonement has the power to
make me whole again. And when I combine this with my (ever-growing) faith in the Savior's love for me, I can then start to comprehend that my worth is defined by God’s love and
sacrifice for me, not by anything I ever do or say. My actions affect my progression,
but they can never change my worth. As I act on my hope I begin to understand
this principle within both my heart and mind, thus enabling me to work towards
my potential in spite of the chance of failure. God loves me even when I don’t
succeed – and that gives me the hope to keep going after experiencing discouragement
as I let the Savior – and those around me – help pick me up and get moving towards
my dreams and goals again.
Hope means looking back purposefully: Seeing how God’s hand
has guided me in the past, then using the resulting feeling of faith and love to
trust that He will continue to guide my
life in the future, and that, furthermore, whatever my life is like right now,
the Lord has a plan and is guiding me patiently and intentionally through it. This helps
me keep going when there seems to be no point, knowing that someday I will
understand the hows and whys of everything I am going through right now, and
that it will all seem worth it.
Hope also means being immersed in the present: Trusting in the Lord enough to let go of
my wishes and fears of the unknown, trusting
that He has a plan – and enough power to make that plan happen, no matter what
mistakes I may not know enough to avoid. This letting go frees me from worries
and gives me space to enjoy the small pieces of wonder that exist inside the
shards of even otherwise broken days. Hope leaves my mind free to fully embrace
each new moment as it comes.
Hope Cultivated
Most of all, hope is a journey. It’s something we learn and
practice one little bit at a time. My own journey to hope has taken years, and I’m definitely not at
the finish line yet. All those things I described above? A year from now, I’m
sure I’d be able to expound hope with even greater depth. But here’s the thing
about hope: I trust the Savior enough
to know that even though I don’t know everything right now, what I do know is
enough for Him to make today magnificent. And
as I keep on striving to learn more so I can draw ever closer to God, my Savior
will be there to hold my hand every step of the way.
My hope has come from doing the little things daily, doing
them sincerely, doing them with the expectation of results. My hope for the
future has come from recognizing how God has turned the me of the past into the
much calmer, more confident, more loving, peaceful, grounded me of the now –
and having the faith that He will continue to fulfill all the promises He has
made to me, both through the words of prophets (ancient and modern alike), and
more individual promises made specifically to me, through the words of my
Patriarchal Blessing and personal revelation. Hope is faith in God’s charity
for all mankind, but also, individually, for me. Hope is faith in God's love.
