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 goal. I put hope first for two reasons. First, hope has content. In the advent tradition, people hope for joy, peace, and love. And in Christianity, that hope is embodied in Jesus presented as a baby. The whole scene is easy for most of us to appreciate. Parents and grandparents look forward to the birth of a child. When the baby arrives, and mother and child are safe, there are many positive emotions. Central is the love of mother for her child. And simultaneously, there is joy and peace. Love radiates among those present. Family members want to hug and hold the newborn. Joy is evident on the faces. And there is peace of mind when all are safe and well.
My second
reason for putting hope on the outside is the paradox of hope. When the desired
person has come or the hoped-for event has arrived, hope is gone. The paradox of hope is that it always has an end. We are now
left with the reality of the person or event. Christmas has come. Will we
experience the complex of joy, peace, and love? If so, hope has been fulfilled.
Of
course, it won’t be long before we hope for something else. And embodied in
that hope is a fear, a worry that things might not turn out so well. Sometimes that happens, which is the downside of hope represented in that troubling quote
attributed to Nietzsche:
“Hope in reality is the worst of all evils
because it prolongs the torments of man.”
There is a warning against
giving people false hope, which truly leads to mental and spiritual struggles. True hope keeps people alive and motivates a quest for fulfillment. When realized, true hope yields wellbeing.
False hope produces anguish and leads to despair—hopelessness.
More about hope
Snyder’s concept of
hope can be seen in the Hope
Scale, which has two components. The Hope Scale post also includes a reference to
Snyder’s book on hope.
Read more about Snyder's hope theory at Hope Theory.
Read more about Snyder's hope theory at Hope Theory.
Find out how hope is
related to positive counseling and psychotherapy outcomes in one of our
studies. It is a free download.
Sutton, G. W., Kelly,
H., Worthington, E. L. Jr., Griffin, B. J., & Dinwiddie, C. (2018) Satisfaction with Christian psychotherapy and well-being:
Contributions of hope, personality, and spirituality. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 5 (1), 8-24. doi:
10.1037/scp0000145 Academia
Link ResearchGate Link
Read about faith,
joy, hope, and love in the book, Living
Well.
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Publications (many free downloads)
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