Geoff W. Sutton Blog

I’ve been thinking about hope this year. I wrote about hope in Living Well . And I‘ve studied hope based on Charles R. Snyder’s hope theory . I’m writing about hope because I am organizing some thoughts about hope as found in the four themes of advent: hope, peace, love, and joy. Although typically depicted by four candles around a Christ candle in a wreath, I think a diagram makes more sense, though clearly less picturesque. The Christmas story links hope to Mary's child, Jesus. When Jesus arrives, he comes with a message of love, which is linked to joy and peace.  Then, the paradox of hope occurs. When the hoped for person arrives, hope ends.  This is the paradox of hope. Hope disappears when it is fulfilled,  but love, joy, and peace are enduring qualities. Hope is powerful when Snyder’s identified twin components are present: (1) a goal, which is a focused desire that energizes our quest and (2) a pathway to reach that ...