Imago Scriptura Book Club (ISBC) 1 - Hope is Not a Prediction
First off, a big welcome to new subscribers over the last few weeks. I have no idea how it happens when I see a bunch of new folks sign up but as I see each, I give a small prayer of gratitude that somehow, some way, what I share here connects with people. So thank you!
Second, this is the first of a bunch of posts through the summer that I’m calling the Imago Scriptura Book Club (ISBC) and going through MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s book, Hope: A User’s Manual. If you want to read more about what this is going to be, click here for the introductory post. I do want to encourage you to pick up MaryAnn’s book - I’m only going to be sharing a quote or so from each chapter and then how that spoke to me both visually and in what I’ll be sharing. So pick up the book - it is absolutely worth the read. Let’s jump in…
MaryAnn begins the book with a series of “What Hope is Not” sections. So, like I shared in my initial post, this is the part where we’re starting the dredging out of misconceptions about hope. The first of them is “Hope is Not a Prediction"."
As always, the ideal is to read the chapter before you read this. So, read chapter 1 in the book. (I won’t nag every time)
Here’s the quote from chapter 1 that really got me...
When we say we’re hopeful, we often follow it with a “that.”1
I had never thought about hope in that way before. Hope was always for something to happen. I hope that the Broncos will win the Super Bowl. I hope that my kid gets the part they wanted in the school play. I hope that my six numbers will be drawn in the Powerball drawing. But wow...to just start out right here with this with taking apart one of the biggest misconceptions that I had about hope.
This quote also stirred a movie scene from me. For a movie that centers so much on hope, did you know that the word “hope” only shows up 9 times in The Shawshank Redemption? (BTW - if you haven’t seen the movie, please please please do so). Seven of those times are in the last 10 minutes with four being in the last few moments. The movie ends (spoiler alert) with these words said by the character, Red, played by Morgan Freeman.
I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
(Pause)
I hope.
His first three all are essentially “I hope thats” in that there is a hoping for an outcome. Hoping to make it across the border. Hoping to see his friend and shake his hand. Hoping that the Pacific is as blue as in his dreams. But then the last is simply, “I hope.” Is it that hope is simply there a part of what his life is going to be from that point forward? I don’t know but I love the open-endedness of it.
I hope.
This image is from when my son and I visited Mansfield Prison, where much of Shawshank was filmed. It is a re-creation of a set in the film when Red makes a choice for living and for hope whereas another character named Brooks tragically wasn’t able to make that choice.
What did you hear in this chapter? What spoke to you? How do you speak of hope? What challenged you? What encouraged you? Is there an image from your day or already in your camera roll that speaks to this?
McKibben Dana, MaryAnn. Hope: A User's Manual (p. 17). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.