“Hoping, I have hoped for Adonai,

And God leaned down to me,”

Inspiration

My friend shared the most beautiful words with me today by Emily Dickinson:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

To me, both the psalm and this poem are a reminder that we are partners with God, that we play an active role in our search. Our hope and our faith is not something that stays within us. We name it, we voice it, we bring it into being. Hope is not about an end result. It’s about having faith that the path will lead us where we’re supposed to go. And we do that by not losing it.

I learned a few years ago that hope is not something we wish for. It doesn’t lead us to the tooth fairy or the secret dollar tree. Hope is about believing that no matter what happens, you’re going to make it to the other side. It’s having faith in yourself, having faith that you will do whatever you need to do at any given moment. None of us know what the future holds (quarantine or not). None of us can meticulously plan. What we do have the power to know is that we will guide ourselves through it. With God’s help of course.

Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose faith. Remind yourself that you have made it this far and that you will continue to move through life.

I love you. I’m glad we’re on this journey together!

Gabi