The Universal Hope

Hope is like that old rocking chair that either sits on your porch or you parents porch or your grandparents porch. On a hot summer day, you just sit down, grab a glass of ice cold lemonade and rock. The stress in your body seems to melt away like the ice in your glass. Things appear simple, the problems of the world don't seem to bother you, the only things that matter is you, the view you have and rocking in the chair. 

Everyone can have a chair like this, or at least sit in one. The chair doesn't care what your religious beliefs are, it doesn't care who your parents are, it doesn't mind what color your are, how old you are, what sex you are, it's just there. You and the Chair. The chair serves it's purpose, to remove the stress of the day. 

Hope is much like the chair, it doesn't matter who you are, you can always find hope, you may have to search a bit, but it is universally accessible to all of humanity! We all seek a the sweet release of hope in our lives!

What do we as humans find hope in?​

We find HOPE in our conneXions as humans. Our conneXions to our family, our friends, our acquaintances, our pets, our governmental systems, and even the things that we 'own' and sometimes in the things that we abuse. The human brain was wired to seek out conneXions. Our brains create and are filled with a neurotransmitter called oxitocin, sometimes referred to as the love hormone, every time that we connect with someone or something. Each time our body's are filled with this 'love hormone,' we are also filled with dopamine, another neurotransmitter, that gives us pleasure. Without these conneXions we have a tendency to get caught in despair, which is different from depression.

Depression is an illness, a chemical imbalance caused by a pathological biological condition, whereas despair is an existential crisis because of the external brokenness of our relationships, our broken and sometimes flawed conneXions. Depression is treated by medical and psychological professionals sometimes aided by the prayers of the faithful, and despair is treated by making healthy conneXions and removing the unhealthy ones! 

What's this mean? We are hard-wired for relationships, for conneXions. We find Hope in those ConneXions! 

Where do the followers of the Hope ConneXion find HOPE?

We find hope in our ConneXion with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died a horrible painful death for us, he rose from the dead, and we await his return to us to bring the peace that only Jesus can provide! 

This means we find Hope in our conneXions with other believers and non-believers as well. 

Our Hope ConeXion List

• In our faith in our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom we love!
• In our Siblings in Christ, whom we love!
• In the prevenient grace of God working in the lost, for we love them as well. 
• In our Holy Scriptures, which we call the Bible, the words are used for teaching, discerning the truth, and contain everything we need to know about the redemption of humanity from it's current state.
• In the incarnational nature of the body (all followers of Christ), for the Holy Spirit always is in us, works through us, and comforts us!
• In the will of God. For God seeks that all should be brought into conneXion with Godself. We are God's Hands and Feet on this earth and do Gods will for God's sake!
• In the Love that God first had for us, the love we have for one another, and the love we have for the broken and those on the fringes of society. 

The most important thing about HOPE is that it is the great connector of FAITH and LOVE. Without these life would be meaningless, but with these life is not only worth living, but it is a blessing from God! 

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