Hope And Faith In This Generation
Hope and faith are amazing things
Something to be cherished and nurtured
Something that will refresh us in return
They can be found in each and every one of us
And they can bring light into the darkest of places
They bend, they twist, they sometimes hide, but rarely do they break,
They give us strength when nothing else can.
-Tammy Clancy
Hope and faith is what drives me to the next minute and into tomorrow. I hope that I’m doing my best and living well, and I have faith that I’m moving in the right direction with my life.
However, hope and faith really makes me think about my thirteen-year old daughter. I am hopeful that she will realize her full potential and that she will meet her life’s struggles with dignity, compassion, and a level-head. I think about her friends, classmates and cousins and am hopeful that they will grow into joyful, strong, courageous adults. I hope this generation will realize their abilities and talents, realize they can make a difference, and realize that they are in charge of their lives. I hope that they will not delay in shedding their burgeoning fears and illusions of loneliness and alienation. I hope they realize that they have each other to lean on and their elders as well. I hope they realize the interconnected of us all and of all our actions and thoughts.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this became the generation of adolescents who didn’t define themselves by the illusory approval of others? Wouldn’t it be nice if they operated from a principled center (like Stephen Covey calls it) rather than caring how their peers judged them or what pop culture suggests they be? Wouldn’t it be nice if they learned of their true nature early on… if they recognized their blessings and their empowerment in the Now? My hope for this generation is that they don’t wait until some crisis occurs in their life before they wake up. My hope is that they don’t wait until they get into their middle-age years before wondering who the hell they are or until they reach old age, facing their mortality, and wishing they had it all over to do again differently.
I have hope and faith that these youngsters will become the epitome of hope and faith – that they will realize that they can, as Tammy Clancy says, “bring light into the darkest of places”. Yes, I know it may sound sappy, but it’s what keeps me from despair. I’ve pinned my hope on the future and have faith in these young people to continue to make a difference in the world.
