Immortality

~~Hope~~

Hope is an attitude of the mind. It's not a feeling or an uncontrollable emotion. Possessing hope is a choice. All of us have experienced or will experience some type of chaos and disaster in our lives: the death of a loved one, rejection, unemployment, financial ruin, acts of violence, illness, old age. Bad times are simply part of life. We can choose to lie down and let these events stomp us into the ground. We can decide to give up, become depressed and beaten. We can develop and nurture an attitude of hopelessness which radiates from our very countenance and appearance, announcing to all around us not to venture close, warning joy and peace to stay away.  Or we can tuck those bad times deep in our hearts, carry them as battle scars of the living—for we can never forget them, nor are we expected to—and use them as tools of experience to teach and comfort others as they face the same struggles. We can choose an attitude of hope through a faith that believes our life is more than uncontrollable fate thrust upon us.  As Christians, we believe in the hope of eternal life. The scriptures are full of messages of hope beyond our life here on earth. But there can be hope for each of us here and now, today. All we have to do is rise each day and proclaim that something good is going to happen to us today. Sometimes, this can be a great effort, but that first step can change everything. That's called HOPE.