Hope for a miracle

There is a sea in Margarita; an island off the coast of Venezuela where it is said that “taking a bath” there can heal even the most horrific of disease. There is a man in Brazil named John of God, who has cured brain aneurisms with only the touch of his hands on your heart. As a therapist I meet people regularly who have experienced the most horrible traumas and tragedies and yet still have unbelieving faith that where they are now would be impossible without the help of something bigger. There are stories in every culture, in every language, of miracles that happen, at times when it just doesn’t seem possible that they could. Believing in those miracles keeps us healthy and it paves the way for even more miracles to occur.

Many people believe that this thing, this helper greater than us has to do with religion or a God. I think it’s absolutely wonderful if you have found a God to believe in and that helps you have hope, but if you haven’t found a God or if you just don’t believe in a God, that’s fine too. I am not trying to get you to believe in God. In fact I am not even fully sure what sort of God I believe in, but I do believe, in the healing power of hope.

“Hope is the desire for something, combined with a belief or positive expectation that it is possible to have what you want.” There is an element of trust or faith in our notion of hope. In fact, many linguists believe that the word hope shares its roots with the word hop, as in leaping in expectation of a good outcome.

In Greek legends, when Pandora opened her box to let out all the Gods, hope remained in the box. That kind of says to me that hope is the one that will always be there to guide us even when the Gods have left the building.

You may be scoffing me right now, “Sarah, I have desire and I have belief that greatness can happen, but it still doesn’t happen.” And to that I have a religious joke:

There once was a man named Joe. Every day Joe would pray to his God to give him a million dollars. Joe believed so deeply that God could grant him this wish. Religiously, every night Joe would kneel in front of his bed and pray, “Please God, please, give me a million dollars. Every day Joe would visualize how he would use the money to help his family and save his home and every night he would pray. Eventually Joe passed away and he never made a million dollars. As he stood at the gates of heaven he pleaded with God, “why did you never give me a million dollars?” And God said to him, “Why did you never buy a lottery ticket?”

“Hope is a desire for something and a belief or positive expectation that it can happen.”

And it is also about having the will to make it happen.

This year, in 2011, my hope for all of you is to believe in yourself. To have the desire, the hope, the positive expectation and the drive to make your life the way you want it to be. Be your own miracle.

Happy New Year!