A few years ago I had to get some permission from a government office in New Delhi. Even after several trips and spending much time and resources, I could not get the required permission. In my frustration and hopelessness, I approached the second highest ranking official of the department and presented my case to him. After reviewing my application, he sat back, looked straight at my eyes and said: “Do not lose hope because the whole world lives on hope.”
The whole world lives on hope! The farmer sows seeds and waits with hope for the seeds to sprout, grow, and produce fruits. The pregnant mother waits with hope for her baby to be born. The fisherman ventures into the sea with the hope of getting a good catch. The businessman invests in his business with the hope that he makes good profit. The teacher instructs the children with the hope that they acquire knowledge and become better people. The doctor treats a patient with the hope of getting him back to good health. The patient undergoes the pain of surgery hoping that one day he will recover his health. The scientist spends days and months in the laboratory with the hope that he succeeds in his research. The soldier guards the borders day and night with the hope that the land remains safe from the enemies. The traveller hopes for his means of transport to take him to his destination. The pilgrims travel to holy places with the hope of getting spiritual benefits. Relatives bury the dead people with the hope that the person will enter into a new and everlasting life.
Hope is the force that keeps the world going. We hope for a positive outcome to all our ventures. When there is no hope for a better tomorrow, a better quality of life and a better world order, we fall into stagnancy and misery. In today’s world, especially in the atmosphere of falling economies, unemployment, fierce competitions and natural and man-made calamities, many people live in perpetual insecurity and hopelessness. But hope can be regained and instilled in people by the timely involvement of others. They can, thus, change the outlook of a person and bring him/her back to hope from being hopeless. As God is the source of all hope, even in the worst of hopeless situations, one can find hope in God.
