Lenten reflections from a Suffolk Smallholding - 3

If you grow your own, whether in a window box, garden or smallholding, it helps to have a sense of hope. This is because most of what we do is about achieving future goals which are not guaranteed, but where there is, nevertheless, confidence that by undertaking certain actions there is a good chance we will succeed. Sowing a packet of seeds and hoping they will germinate and then eventually produce a harvest is a good example. But that won't happen unless you act to put in place the right conditions to bring about success. Of course, the same applies to every other aspect of life.

The role of hope in general wellbeing, as well as in overcoming mental health difficulties, has been increasingly supported by research evidence. Moreover, hope has been shown to have greater power in promoting wellbeing than optimism. What distinguishes hope from optimism is that optimism is a personal attribute where there are expectations of positive future outcomes. Hope has the same expectation but is grounded in an individual's belief that they have agency to bring these outcomes to fruition. To be hopeful means not only that you have the will, but also the means of finding the way forward. Optimism and hope overlap, but whereas optimism is frequently an in-built individual characteristic, either through one's genes or early upbringing, hope is something that has to be cultivated. It requires greater intentionality.

The psychological research has identified a number of strategies that can help cultivate a sense of hope. One contributory approach is to act. But this is often the one thing many find the most difficult. The answer is to undertake small actions in the right direction. A tiny step might seem futile but, once taken, it will likely change how you look and feel about things. Another step becomes that much easier. Mother Teresa once wrote: "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop is not in the ocean, I think that the ocean would be less because of that missing drop". And as the Romans were assured by Paul, presumably in relation to the ultimate hope which we are reminded of in Lent, "Hope will never disappoint".

Hope does not entail ignoring or denying seemingly overwhelming circumstances or problematic situations or specific anxieties. It is about seeing beyond current circumstances to something better despite such difficulties or the presence of those feelings.

The somewhat enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson captured some of the characteristics of hope in a well-known poem of hers (complete with her typical idiosyncratic punctuation and capitalisation). In this poem she conceives hope metaphorically as a bird:-

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

For more Lenten reflections, go to Angela's  Tracing Rainbows blog.