sewer rat-sorta hope

Let's take some of the sepia-enhance filter off what we consider as hope. In order for our hope to be more than just wispy wishes, our hope needs grit.

Hope can't be a dainty, sickly flower that only survives in dry, semi-shade terrain, free of bugs and any foot traffic. It's gotta be like a dandelion; a weed, capable of surviving any and all conditions. Oh, you think you got rid of the dandelion because you mowed the lawn? Surprise, mother-grass cutter: it's back.

Hope can't be that women's cardigan with super explicit laundering instructions ("Wash Cold by itself in Distilled, Filtered, Non-Tap Water, Turned Inside Out, on Delicate Cycle. Once cleaned, lay flat to dry across bamboo-infused slats with 1/4 inch separation between slats, taking care to smooth out any wrinkles. Use organic latex gloves when laundering for best results.") Hope needs fortitude. 

Hope needs to be the sturdy, well-constructed t-shirt that be be washed hot, cold, with any other clothes. You can spill on it, bleed on it, and it'll get clean. It can be dried hot or medium, or not at all. Over and over. For years.

Hope can't be the affluent house cat that only eats specially formulated canned food purchased at the most expensive pet store in town. Hope has to be the sewer rat: capable of digesting anything, willing to forage and subsist on scraps and cold sludge. Willing to live with the gunk of life to find its way.

You get the idea. 

The hope that God gives needs to be able to hold onto us when we lack the strength, the resolve, the willpower to hold onto it. Hope kept away in a glass case is not hope. Hope needs training. The gnarly part of this is that the only way hope gets to be this tough, this rugged, is by enduring setback after setback, disappointment after disappointment, interrupted occasionally by glimmers of progress and love.

We like the look of a battle-tested warrior or sage when she's resolute, standing firm, digging in. She only got that way by enduring countless smaller blows and training.

Are you in such a place these days? You taking the setbacks and defeats, trying to stand up underneath them? This is how hope that endures and withstands is formed. 

We get knocked back, and not gently. We get our bearings, clear the stars from our eyes. We rise, and we push again forward.