Hope Bridges Gaps.
JB Coles, one of our Community Listeners, tells us about his experience passing around a Hope Journal on two flights:
“What do you hope for?”
“Isn’t that a sort of personal question to ask?” was the response I received from most of my friends.
It is, and I’m pretty sure that’s the point. Whether it’s your next paycheck, performance on an upcoming exam, or your spiritual salvation, hope is the rudder of our lives whether we acknowledge it or not. It gives life motivation, picks us up from failures, and urges us to continue. Hope is personal in that it gives each of us a meaning to keep going, but personal doesn’t need to mean private. How tragic is it that something so inspirational finds itself internalized so often? Imagine how transforming it could be if intimate communication was reignited on the basis of hope. How beautiful would it be if, instead of staying selfishly silent, our hopes and the encouragement they give us were shared with others to transform them as well? That’s what I hoped for when I heard about The Hope Chronicles.
Through my participation with The Hope Chronicles, I was excited to see how transforming shared hopes could be. Even from my first conversation, it was obvious that hope bridges gaps between people. I sat on a flight awkwardly holding the Hope Journal in my hands next to a woman, Nancy, who I would never normally have spoken with. She was busy, engaged in a good book, and I could empathize. I am as guilty as the next person for ignoring the people living life around me. My typical routine would have involved exactly the same thing except with ear plugs to aid my isolation. Now I assumed a new role, ready to break the silence and invade her peace. I was also preparing for rejection. I introduced myself, held out the journal and briefly explained the goal of the project. Before I could finish, Nancy’s eyes grew wide with excitement and took on a beautiful gleam. She closed the book and we started talking about hope and the conversation progressed from there until landing. It took a different turn than I’m used to. No weather, no sports, no movies. We already had the assurance that we shared one thing in common, hope. This was eye opening for me. Instead of relying on shallow conversation to avoid rejection and embarrassment, our conversation was founded on a shared acknowledgement of each other’s necessity of hope. This same footing gave us a different perspective on each other and made us vulnerable in a new way. Nancy’s case wasn’t special either; the same thing happened many times I approached people about the project. Somehow, hope brought us out of our shells and into meaningful communication.
While my eyes were opened to the effect that shared hopes had through my own conversations, I could also hear the effects in conversations all around the plane. As the journal made its way to the back of the plane, I heard many people explaining the project to their neighbors and smiled. It was amazing to hear people present the project to each other and begin to discuss what their hopes were. With each new presenter, the project took on a new, personal slant. Some people thought it was a wonderful idea and shared with each other excitedly about how such a project could make an incredible impact on people’s lives. Some shared their skepticism through sarcastic jokes. Some people shrugged it off and fell asleep. Regardless of the reaction, people were stirred to talking and discussing the idea of hope. It was a beautiful harmony of voices, discussing the things most dear to their hearts in the safety of one-on-one conversation.
Through my experience with The Hope Chronicles I have witnessed hope’s incredible ability to connect people. While by no means a magical word that instantly breaks down barriers, hope is a deeply personal thing that we can all relate to. As I read through the journal my heart was moved by the vulnerability that it represented. The hopes and experiences that people were willing to share was incredible. While hope may be a personal matter, the amazing effect that it can have when shared is undeniable. I witnessed conversations start between perfect strangers, enjoyed sharing personal conversation with others, and saw emotions expressed that I could never have expected, all in response to the simple question: “What do you hope for?”
JB Coles
Community Listener
Tags: community listener, flight
2 comments
thanks for sharing your experience, JB. i enjoyed reading your story and getting a glimpse of what can happen when we take a risk to reach out and try to connect with people around us. kudos to you for taking that risk, which i’m sure wasn’t easy. God bless!
Thank you JB for sharing! I agree wholeheartedly with you about the tragedy of confusing personal and private. I am loving getting to ‘know’ precious people around the world based on their inside thoughts – the thoughts that bring inspiration… I can’t count the number of times I’ve died a little inside myself, surrounded by lovely people producing empty, superficial conversation. I love that Hope is bringing us together, deeper into life and meaning.
Again, thank you for listening and sharing.