When you were growing up, what kinds of things did you wish for? Did you wish for good grades, did you wish the acne to disappear from your face, or did you wish that you could take back some words you thoughtlessly hurled at someone in your class? What’s that quote, “wishing doesn’t make it so?” No, to get good grades or to have a clear complexion or to resolve the hurt your words caused, you and you alone have to take action. Your wishes, if they can be granted at all, require you to act.
But then of course, even if you study hard, wash your face three times daily or apologize to the person cut down by your words, your wishes still may not come true. It’s a fifty/fifty chance that your wishes will prevail. It all depends on you and even that may not sufficient. Wishes being fulfilled are no sure foundation on which to stake your future.
What about hoping? As an adult what do you hope for? Do you hope that there really is an afterlife, do you hope that all people will be treated with justice and compassion, or do you hope that your employer doesn’t declare bankruptcy, leaving you out of work with no pension to fall back on? These hopes are not affected by your ability to bring them about on your own.
Hoping requires that we consider the three concepts of Expectation, Assurance, and Trust. As an illustration of how to encounter hope, let me use the example of your employer’s ability to stay in business and keep you employed.
CONCEPT ONE: Expectation.
You expect that while you are going about your job, your employer is going about his/her job, managing the company, funding your pension, meeting payroll, keeping sales strong, keeping raw materials in the proper supply. There is an EXPECTATION that you don’t have to worry about how your employer conducts business. Your hope is in his/her ability to effectively manage and cause the company to prosper, providing for your employment and income. Wishing won’t make this so. Your hope is grounded on EXPECTATION.
CONCEPT TWO: Assurance.
In the company for which I worked, every week my department gathered with our manager who ASSURED us that we were making progress and that our contributions were gratefully acknowledged. Once a quarter an all employee meeting was convened by the top plant managers to ASSURE us, in the presence of all the employees, that the company was indeed healthy and well poised to weather any unanticipated changes in the market. And then once a year, the CEO and the COO produced an annual report that ASSURED us that the year’s goals had been met and the next year was beginning from a position of strength. Our hope, as individuals and as a company, was affirmed as we were constantly ASSURED that all was well.
CONCEPT THREE: Trust
One way to look at trust besides the cliché that,” trust is earned,” is in the reality of what was actually occurring in our company. Our annual report showed a 10% increase in sales. We could check on that. Was it real? Our annual pension contribution letter pointed to the reality of our pensions being secure. We could check on that if we had doubts. The fact that the company was employing more folks today than a year ago spoke to the reality of increased demand and productivity which meant more net profit. One year with those realities in place was encouraging. The second and third year of similar results and we came to expect good news about the company. The fourth and fifth year of continued good results, suggested we could have confidence in what we saw and we could be assured that things were going well and even if some market correction occurred, the company had contingency plans to keep the plant humming along. We began to TRUST that our future was secure. Our hope was born out in that as we TRUSTED in the company and, as our combined efforts remained constant, the company prospered and more TRUST accumulated.
Today, I hope for many things: world peace, economic stability, social justice, on and on. I expect those things and if I find assurance that those things are being attended to and are actually improving, I begin to trust that the things I hope for will actually find a place in the reality in which I live. By looking at EXPECTATIONS, ASSURANCE, and TRUST, I can make decisions about how secure my hope is and whether my hope is well placed.
Let me say this, today as a person of faith I find my hope in a particular concept, a benevolent God that forms the foundation on which my trust rests. But I wasn’t always a person of faith. Back then, I still had the need for hope in my life. And the foundation of my hope rested secure as I employed the three concepts of EXPECTATION, ASSURANCE and TRUST to gauge the strength and confidence of that foundation of hope.
What do you hope for and what do you expect to be the result of all your hoping? Maybe it is a steady job and a pension, perhaps it is something else. What do you expect, how are you assured, and in what do you trust to guide you as you hope?
Start by identifying a hope you have and walk that hope through the three concepts. What do you EXPECT from that hope, how will you find or identify the ASSURANCE that your hope might bring about change, and what is it in which you TRUST that the hope you have will find a place in the reality of your life situation?
Have a wonderful journey in hope.
