Hope

There are times in our lives when, the storm has raged, darkness has rolled in, violent gales and pounding waves. The assault has levied its anger and left destruction in its wake. The toll it has taken is unbearable. Unfathomable. Devastating. What remains are splinters of what was once a life. A hard earned, carefully crafted, beautiful, soulful life. The clouds are still heavy above our heads. Ominous. The wind still whips our hair around our face, making it hard to see. The air is heavy, so thick it's hard to breath, suffocating. Dizzying. We can't get warm, the chill is bone deep, numbing, We are hunched over, Shivering, soaked, bruised and weary. Defeated?

And yet somehow, there is a sliver of light. There is a silence, a growing warmth and a calm. There is a small but present feeling that makes itself known and through all of the desperation, despair, and lost promises we start to catch a glimmer of something. It is what will give us the courage, the strength and the motivation to pick up the pieces. To start anew. It is HOPE. Hope is the rainbow that appears after the storm. Hope is the bird that resumes his song. Hope is the ray of sun slipping through the clouds. Hope is the flower left standing, it's sweet fragrance finding your nose. Hope is a soft Blanket wrapped around our shoulders. It is a long deep breath. It is your face tilting towards the sky. It is in the knowing that things will start to get better. The rebirth of dreams, planning for the future, faith. Hope is the friend that comes along and offers encouragement and support. Hope is searching through the rubble and finding a memory. Hope is sharing your fears and sorrow with another and finding a common peace. Hope is turning your own gloom into someone else's comfort and Hope. Hope is community. Hope is constant, even when we think it is gone or irretrievable, it is there, reaching out and offering it's hand, urging us to take hold.