Send Hope

Breathe Deeply

“Hope is the grace that comes in and helps you start breathing. Hope comes in through your heart. It doesn’t come in through your mind.”

Caroline Myss (Caroline’s Blog, Feb. 28, 2020)

          Caroline Myss says, “The whole world breathes together.” I don’t know about you, but when I am anxious, I hold my breath. I will be driving along in the car, going anywhere, and realize that I am holding my breath. When we do that, we cannot feel hopeful. Hope is a letting-go-kind-of-thing. We must breathe hope in and allow it to stir around in us, and then exhale it into whatever situation is causing us to hold our breath in the first place. You may even do this as a mantra or a silent blessing. Imagine the situation or person of concern, and say silently to yourself, “I am breathing hope in.” While you hold it for a few seconds, say, “Hope is filling me up.” And as you exhale, say, “I send hope to [this situation] or [this person.]”

          We are under a spell. We’ve created a reality and that frightens us. We observe the same situation and interpret it in opposite terms—a perfect example of what “creating one’s own reality,” means We look across the divide and blame the others for not seeing the “truth,” as though there is only one and it belongs to us. We give all our energy to naming what is wrong while overlooking what is right with the world.

          There is a wonderful passage in Jaber Crow by Wendell Berry, in which he describes sitting in a church service and looking out an open window. While the sermon is describing the terrible sins of the world, and the eternal damnation awaiting the congregation if they don’t repent, "Jaber" is watching the wind in the treetops, the birds winging from tree to tree, the beautiful blue sky, and the lovely people in their Sunday best sitting all around him. He feels love for all of it and for them. Our reality lies in how we perceive each other and the world. We decide whether to make it Hell or Heaven.

          In the darkest of times, hope lights a candle. Please, send some hope to all the people you love, and especially to the ones you don’t.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane