Sales Man Up
HOPE
Hebrew shepherd turned warrior turned King of ancient Israel once wrote, “ why so downcast oh my soul ? Why so disturbed within me ? Put your hope in God...”
( Psalm 43:5) It is easy to become so focused on negative circumstances that we lose all hope. And without hope, life becomes meaningless; and despair moves into the driver's seat. Viktor Frankl, who was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, author of “Man's Search for Meaning”, and Holocost survivor ; related a story about a group of prisoners in one of the death camps, that were forced to move a huge pile of dirt, using shovels and wheelbarrows; from one end of a bombed out factory to the other. Once the dirt pile was completely moved, their Nazi captors would have them repeat the process, moving the dirt pile to the other end of the building. Back and forth they went, day in and day out, until many of the prisoners literally went insane. Why? Because there was no purpose in what they were doing. They had lost all hope.
Along that line, Viktor writes, “ A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how.' “ It is our “why” that gives us hope. Hope is the anchor for the soul. It is the coldest and darkest hour of the night just before the breaking of the morning sun. It is the anticipation of that direct deposit that shows up in our bank account. And it is seeing the face of a loved one that we’ve been separated from by time and distance. This makes deposits into our emotional bank account. Hope enables us to take one step at a time, even though we may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Hope manifests as the discipline that laces up our running / work out shoes, even when we don’t feel like it. Hope is trusting in something or Someone greater than ourselves.
Hope was exemplified by the life of Jan Baalsrud. In the movie “12th Man” , Jan’s journey is described - “ After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud finds himself fleeing from the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.” This gripping, thrilling narrative was underpinned by one unspoken truth - hope ! After the execution of his fellow soldiers, Jan’s only desire is to get to Sweden. If he could just make it to a neutral country, then he’d finally be safe! It is this very hope that fueled his grit and determination to endure being hunted down, shot at, freezing with hypothermia, starvation, frostbite and gangrene. What I found most inspiring were the ordinary people of Norway who fueled his hope by ( spoiler alert ! ) taking him into their homes, clothing him, tending to his wounds, transporting him, and literally lifting his head to feed him when he was too weak to feed himself ! You see, their hope was inflamed by his hope, and their faith in him and his cause, fueled his hope. You see how that works, don’t you ?
When we know our “why” and choose to walk in hope, it affects those around us in a positive way. They “ tie off “ to our ship, because we are anchored. Now is not the time to fear. We do what is in our control to do, then we exercise hope! Be full of hope!
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
Elie Wiesel
