“Hope for us cannot simply be wishful thinking, nor can it be only the desire to grow up and take control of our own lives. Hope is a yearning rooted in the reality that pulls us toward the radical Biblical version of the world remade.” Katherine Paterson
I wrote those words in my commonplace a year or so ago and I have thought deeply about them many times. I think it is particularly true of people who suffer from addictions or who have addictive personalities (uh hum) that you indulge in a lot of wishful thinking. Wishing you were different, other people were different, your situation was different. I think hope requires a certain amount of work and trust. You trust that God will bless the work and that your reliance on Him will lead you where you need to be. Something like that, I’m still thinking about it. I have been making hope in God’s plan for me almost a lifestyle in the last few years but I still waffle around about how that is lived. I think a world remade in God’s vision is a good start.
Back to my story.
Part of the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous is that when you decide to stop letting alcohol dominate your life you should commit to attending at least one meeting a day for 90 days. The idea is that if you can remain sober for three months you have a better chance of remaining sober forever. I believe some statistics bear this out. Those first three months are when you are most likely to relapse, although this is a lifelong battle and relapse can happen at any time, those first few months are crucial.
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