Thank you Sandra for your powerful reminder of the importance of hope in our lives today. The term ‘wise hope’ speaks to my heart. As I emailed you, in the Archives we have the perspective that anything that happened before today has become history - or herstory - and can be included. And special thanks for your willingness to have your words added to the Archives. In response to Ellie’s comment about resurrecting hope lectures, there are a few hope talks on the Archives website at: https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/exploring-inner-life/spirit-life-p... <https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/exploring-inner-life/spirit-life-practices/>. If you have other messages about hope you feel would be helpful to add to these, please email them to me as a PDF to add to the website: Wise Hope, Sandra Conant, January, 2022 Harbingers of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7591.pdf>, David McCleskey, 19th Guardians Consult, October 17-19, 1980 The World of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7983.pdf>, Global Research Assembly, July 1980 To Deal with the Whole, To Care for the Whole, To Hope for the Whole <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7037.pdf>, Joseph Slicker, October 10, 1975 Hope: 1975 Sydney <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/541.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, August 23, 1975 Living Endlessness <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/6852.pdf>, Ron Clutz, 11th Global Research Assembly, July 5, 1975 Consciousness of Hope Beyond Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/6718.pdf>, Gene Marshall, Global Research Assembly, July 3, 1975 Hope Beyond Hope, <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7293.pdf> Notes, Gene Marshall, 1975 And Hope Appeareth <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7252.pdf>, Gene Marshall, Collegium, December 30, 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/gold_path/data/meth/100288.htm>, Advent 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/4346.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, Seventh Guardians Consult, October 13, 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/539.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, Guardians Meeting, October 12, 1974 Fifth City: A Sign of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/14916.pdf>, Joseph Slicker, January 1974 Peace, Karen karen.snyder10@gmail.com
On Jan 5, 2022, at 11:17 AM, Ellie Stock via Earthrise <earthrise@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Maybe time to resurrect the Hope Beyond Hope lectures...
Ellie elliestock@aol.com
On 5 Jan 2022, at 4:15 am, Sandra Conant via Earthrise <earthrise@lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:earthrise@lists.wedgeblade.net>> wrote:
WISE HOPE
In this time when “optimism” seems naïve and the despair of hopelessness is unacceptable, I’m thinking about what others have called “wise hope.” The idea has been around a long time, but it was Vaclav Havel’s letter from prison that first impressed me:
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. “
Then there’s Rumi: I died from a mineral and plant became, Died from the plant, took a sentient frame; Died from the beast, donned a human dress - When by my dying did I ever grow less?
Finally, the image that has been on my mind lately is the journey of metamorphosis. A squat, ugly worm is born. Its life consists of munching its way through countless leaves and growing fat. Somehow or the other it weaves a shell and has an indefinite period of “life in the mush” as a friend called it many years ago. At some point, the cocoon breaks open, and a brand new, totally different creature emerges. It can be a small brown moth or a Blue Morpho or a Monarch, but whatever its frame, there’s simply no denying that it’s a miracle. The source of its happening is pure, unadulterated mystery.
And somehow, these elements are combining to give me a sense of what I mean with “wise hope”. No, it’s not optimism about the future or dreams of life returning to “normal”. The entire world has been traumatized with the relentless reminder of its powerlessness. It’s not having MY personal timeline for ‘life in the mush’ or even for what will emerge when the cocoon opens.
Confidence in a future with meaning must reside in the certainty that it will look different, that it may not be at all what you want, that positive change may not happen before you die. So it’s a miracle to be able to say “thank you” and dwell in gratitude that we’re here for this awakening. It’s a miracle that you’re alive, that every day comes new and opens a portal to the future. There’s a singer I love named Carrie Newcomer. Besides writing rich, thought-provoking songs, she has a quirk I appreciate. Her songs just sorta end. She’s singing, then she’s not singing. The song hangs in the air, unresolved. And there’s a whiff, a tiny whiff, of anticipation.
Perhaps that’s as close as I can get.