Hope

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

There is always being hopeful. Like when I'm with my dog at a nearby park, we're always hopeful we'll see a baby bunny bounce out of the bushes. Or, some black birds in a rowdy circle, quarreling and excited at something. Or, a fallen palm tree frond, my dog must inspect it every time, end-to-end. 

Or, being hopeful as a self-healing, counter to all the erosive energy spent on worry, the needless, endless kind.

There is always the salvation or calm of attitude, the only thing controllable, sometimes, especially the dark times. There is always the hope that loved ones and friends will be well, or okay. 

Does my dog have any use for hope? Yes, but not as desperately as her dad. Perhaps her hoping is more a happy anticipation, untethered to enduring worry or fear, but only in the moment.

Scripture describes hope as a virtue, as a mechanism of faith and trust. In Job 11:18, "You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety."

That we should be nonetheless hopeful about every unsolved mystery in our world, that it's already decided beyond our wonder and involvement. So, the key molecule of hope is the firm assurance of promises kept, the confidence in unknowable realms.