Hope can be a slippery and elusive thing. Some people have been hurt or they’ve failed badly in the past, and they have given up all hope, but on the other end of the scale, some divorce hope from reality and believe that things will somehow magically work out without having to deal with the painful truth. True hope blends a rigorous grasp of reality with tenacious optimism.
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” – Albert Einstein
Admiral James Stockdale was the highest-ranking American prisoner of war in Viet Nam. For years, he languished in the “Hanoi Hilton,” his days alternating between boredom and torture. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. Through those long, mind-numbing, hope-killing years, Stockdale waited to be rescued, but until the war was over, American soldiers never came. In his book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins recalls a conversation he had with the Admiral many years after the war. Stockdale talked of his commitment to be realistic about his situation as a POW, and Collins asked, “Who didn’t make it?”
“The optimists,” Stockdale replied.
Collins was surprised. He wondered, Wouldn’t optimism be a necessary trait for a prisoner to hang on to?
The Admiral explained that “the optimists” were those who clung to the hope that they’d get out of prison by the next Christmas. When that didn’t happen, they believed they’d get out by Easter. When that didn’t occur, they convinced themselves they’d be freed by a certain date in the summer. Sooner or later, the disappointment of unfulfilled expectations eroded their ability to make it through another day of confinement and torture. Many of these men died in prison of a broken heart. Stockdale faced the same torment and loneliness, but he held tightly to two perspectives: Retain faith that you will prevail in the end regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be. Collins calls this dual perspective on hardship “The Stockdale Paradox.” **[Jim Collins, Good to Great, Harper Business, New York, 2001, p. 86.]
Hope in the Story of a Persistent Widow
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. "There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. 'I fear neither God nor man,' he said to himself, ‘but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!' "
Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this evil judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?"
Be First to Get Notified
Coming up next…
Day 22 of 40 Days to Make Your Money Count
Courage
“Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.” – William James
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