Hope

Last night with a group of friends and acquaintances, we got on the topic of hope; how we know and feel hope working in our lives and how we view it, through others.

Human Beings are selfish in nature. It's easy to think of yourself first and what you can gain from a situation. This is a natural instinct of survival. Even in law, you are not required to help another individual unless you were the direct cause of their harm.

How I see hope in the world is through acts of complete unselfishness. People doing for another with no thoughts of how it will benefit them or how others will perceive the act. Because we have no obligation to each other, we have no obligation to be a 'Good Samaritan', these acts are a demonstration of the hope each of us have in the world.

Cooking a meal at the local homeless shelter, The Emergency Residence Project, answering the domestic and sexual assualt hotline at ACCESS, the women's shelter, helping prepare a meal and eating in community with others at Food at First or Beyond Welfare...

These are general ways but there are also many indirect ways throughout our everyday lives where hope shines through. Everytime we help another simply because we are moved by compassion, we feel hope and through hope-we can find inspiration in our lives.