Hope Amid Hopelessness

I hate to keep dwelling on this like all the news media does, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues to boggle the mind. All the people whose lives have been changed forever; who will never return to New Orleans; who cannot find family members. I cannot begin to imagine how they feel.

I did receive a long e-mail from a friend who was able to get in just to assess the damage to his property. He covered whatever missing windows he could, but says he will not return for good until the electricity is turned back on and the running water is safe. His note made me want to go there and help with the clean-up in his neighborhood.

Amid the turmoil and frustration of it all, I found some consolation in a book by Kathleen O'Connell Chesto. She has written many books and appeared in several videos based on what she has written. Most of her works are on family life and values, which is her area of special interest. But the book I'm referring to is called, Risking Hope: Fragile Faith in the Healing Process. Here's what she says about hope:

There was a time when I thought I knew what hope meant. I thought I understood the risk. But too many nights of prayng to a heaven that seemed empty from a heart even more hollow . . . had left me questioning if I believed in anything at all, myself, my family, least of all, God. The words from Romans that had never made sense, "These sufferings bring patience, patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope" (5:4), slowly took on meaning. I had thought of hope as more active somehow. But in that awful darkness, when there was nothing left to do but hold on to one another tightly, hope found us."

I think that kind of hope - holding onto each other tightly in the darkness - must be what's keeping those people in shelters going, and must be what's giving drive to those who return to find their homes in ruins.