On Hope

“Hope distorts reality.” – Howard

Chew on that for a bit.

Hope is by definition a desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.

Hope is one of three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) that allow man to share in God’s nature. These virtues relate directly to God who directly infuses these three virtues into the soul where they make the believers capable of living as God’s children and meriting eternal life. Hope is the theological virtue by which the faithful desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as their happiness, placing their trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on their own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Gnaw on that for a bit.

Here is something from masonicpaedia.com.

“We can now turn our attention to the other virtue “Hope”. Hope and Faith are closely interconnected, for where there is Faith there is Hope and where there is Hope there is Faith. A little thought will make it clear, why we cannot have the one, without the other. Hope is not only a feeling of expectation, but is also a feeling of confidence, when it is combined with Faith. We often use the phrase ‘hoping against hope’, which can only imply that we do so, because we have Faith. It is also said ‘trust in God and hope for the best’, which again emphasizes the importance of Faith and its link to Hope. Many of us know the well – known Hindi proverb, which means, “It is in Hope that the World survives.”

From researchlodge.org

A research lodge exists for the purpose of encouraging the exploration of the history and philosophy of Freemasonry through the preparation and presentation of research papers. In America, there is usually only one research lodge in a grand jurisdiction, and it meets less often than regular lodges, perhaps only 2–4 times a year, with little or no ritual other than the opening and closing ceremonies. Grand lodges often have a different per capita for research lodge members and different requirements for dual membership.

From the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

How do we pursue hope in our daily lives as Masons? How do we turn wishful thinking into unshakable knowledge that things will be alright? We must have faith, in our officers and in God. We say that Masonry is not a religion but tell
our candidates that good works are necessary to enter the Celestial Lodge above. Many of us believe that grace alone gets us into heaven, so how do we reconcile this? Perhaps we should consider this phrase not in a literal sense but
in a symbolic one: The rewards for good works is not after we have laid down our working tools; but right here in our lodge. When we perform solid ritual,when we follow the Ancient Landmarks, when we spread the cement of
brotherly love and affection, we are erecting that spiritual building here among the brethren of the Lodge, and we are ensuring that it continues long after we are gone.

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope is a good thing to have. It can help you plan your day or your life. It might be human nature to keep on hoping against all odds or adversity. People living under duress or tyranny will continue to hope for better days even though there might be ample evidence that things cannot possibly turn out the way they want. It might be human nature to always find fresh cause for optimism. Humans tend to hope for salvation or redemption too much.

They buy lottery tickets.

Hope can be a slippery slope. It might be naive to think that one’s tormentor might have a change of heart and relent on their abuse. Hope might be a ‘go to’ position in between beatings. Hope is a key element to Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response. It occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. This psychological connection develops over the course of the days, weeks, months, or even years of captivity or abuse. Faith is a key element that drives hope that drives already oppressed and vulnerable people to hunker down and wait for whatever next might come.

Hope can prevent people from rising up out of their cognitive dissonance. Hope can prevent victims of oppression from fighting back. Fear can do the same thing.

Hope makes people subject themselves and their families to genetic experimentation out of a fear of a hyped up viral pandemic that hasn’t been proven to exist. Hope, fear, and ignorance will make parents give up their children to the same coerced medical intervention. Ignorance is a preexisting condition. Fear feeds on ignorance.

Ignorance keeps people from recognizing that they are under threat of attack or are actually being attacked.

Fear paralyzes people from fighting back to save their lives, the lives of loved ones, their livelihoods, and their societies once they are attacked.

When threats are made good and manifest in attacks, a new reality for the people has been created.

Hope distorts this reality by making those hoping that another, more pleasant reality is coming simply through hoping that it will come. Hope is completely passive. Hope is weakness.

Some people will pray for a change in reality. Prayer is an action that, depending on the practitioner, has the power to change reality. Prayer can give people the strength to act.

Hope is not a political strategy.

Hope distorts reality.