What hope can do for us

I watch the evening news every night since I don't read the daily newspaper. It's my way of catching up on all that is going on in our world. Recently, I tuned in to the local news for our area, and a section began rolling with a powerful message of hope and how far it can take us, especially when we hold onto it with everything we have inside us. The interview was about an elderly man who is dying from lung cancer and COPD, a common illness that follows a life of heaving smoking. He began talking about having heard of the "Make a Wish Foundation" and deep inside him, a silent wish had lingered. Now he found the courage to speak about it with his hospice partner.

I watched him talk, saw him walk outside and stand on his porch steps as a cold rain was falling. Then he started explaining his special wish:"Well, I feel a little guilty about my wish. It's raining a lot, and we sure have needed rain. But right now, I need just a few hours of sunshine so maybe my wish can come true." When asked what his wish was, he spoke from his heart and said, "I have dreamed about riding in a hot air balloon since I was a kid. Now it's all I can think about. But even though the rain seems to just keep on coming down, I have hope that just maybe this will happen!" The camera then turned to his hospice partner, and she explained that everything was ready and paid for. But now a very sunny day was really needed, and she hoped it would arrive quickly!

My heart was breaking as I listened to this man, a total stranger who is facing so much and yet he was teaching a powerful lesson of having hope. Even when everything might seem impossible, here he was clinging to it and praying for his dream to come true. The news continued, but my mind was dwelling on this man and his dream, how long he had held onto it, thinking it probably would never happen but yet he refused to give up that simple thing called hope.  

That night I made sure to include this man in my prayers, and somehow I began to feel a sense of assurance that he would see his dream come true. What strength there is in a four letter word hope, and how we all find ourselves holding onto it throughout our lives. This gentle man could easily have cast his dream aside and just let it go. But in the worst of times, he reached deep for hope and is determined to never let go of it.

I pray his wish comes true and that he finds himself floating in the glorious skies, feeling the heat from the hot air of the beautiful balloon and for a few minutes, being able to let go of the illness that racks his body and simply take it all in!

Keep pushing away from Pain, and give yourself time to hope for a few minutes of relief in each day. This is my prayer for all who suffer with Chronic Pain, and I am giving Hope a chance, too.  God bless.