I keep hearing the cry … “what is hope?”
and the cry … “where is hope?” 

Lives – bodies, minds, spirits – will be assaulted by threats, violence, racism, sexism, broken promises, and more lies. As families are separated, the economy worsens and darkness plummets in areas of education, health, environment, personal safety and more.

Augustine died in 430. It was  a time when many Romans fled for their lives to North Africa because of violence and corruption in high offices.  It was a time when hope seemed to be elusive – and invisible.   Terrible times.

Sound familiar?
In the fifth century, he wrote these words: 
“Hope has two daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage
… ‘anger’ at the way things are
… and ‘courage’ to see that they do not remain the way they are.”   

These days, many are experiencing elusive hope … invisible hope. Augustine knew that the only way through terrible times was for hope to emerge. His words guided the people at that time.  Could they guide people at this time? Could we be called to hope, in spite of it all?

What if we allowed the anger at the “way things are”  to surface by expressing our feelings in journalling, focusing on our breathing, artwork and sharing those feelings in conversations with trusted family, friends, colleagues, professionals?

What if we responded with courage …
– by putting one foot in front of the other?
– by remembering to breathe?
– by inhaling Ruach?
– by making time to “be” (remembering that we are human ‘be-ings’ not human ‘do-ings’)?
– by sharing our fear, stress, concerns with caring people and welcoming opportunities to live
… one moment at a time.

Hope has two daughters. 
Anger.
Courage.

May we give ourselves time space to experience what we are feeling.
May we give ourselves time and space to name what we are feeling as ‘anger.’
And may we be open to being siblings of Courage and Hope.
In spite of it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As always, you are welcome to share
© June Maffin

The photo: the little figures were made with paper napkins wrapped around paper clips. It’s an easy craft to make.

BLOG: https://www.soulistry.com/blog     
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry
BLUESKY: https://soulistryjune.bsky.social

“Soulistry” is a neologism combining two words: ‘soul’ and ‘artistry’ … soul-space – connecting creativity and spirituality.  
Sent from the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples in the Cowichan Valley, British Columbia.
***********************************************