The Universal Pattern <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mystical\nHope <\/strong>\nThursday, \u202fApril 16, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Hope is the main impulse of life.<\/em> \u2014Ilia Delio, OSF\n[1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Because we are so quickly led to despair, most of us\ncannot endure suffering for long without some sliver of hope or meaning.\nHowever, it is worth asking ourselves about where our hope lies. My friend and\ncolleague Cynthia Bourgeault makes a powerful distinction between what she\ncalls ordinary hope, \u201ctied to outcome . . . . an optimistic feeling . . .\nbecause we sense that things will get better in the future\u201d and mystical hope\n\u201cthat is a complete reversal of our usual way of looking at things. Beneath the\n\u2018upbeat\u2019 kind of hope that parts the seas and pulls rabbits out of hats, this\nother hope weaves its way as a quiet, even ironic counterpoint.\u201d She writes,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We might make the following observations about this other\nkind of hope, which we will call <em>mystical\nhope<\/em>. In contrast to our usual notions of hope:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome,\nto the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to\nexternal circumstances and conditions.<\/li><li>It has something to do with <em>presence<\/em>\u2014not a future good\noutcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by\nsomething intimately at hand.<\/li><li>It bears fruit within us at the psychological\nlevel in the sensations of strength, joy, and satisfaction: an \u201cunbearable\nlightness of being.\u201d But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from\noutward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within. . .<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>[It] is all too easy to understate and miss that hope is\nnot intended to be an extraordinary infusion, <em>but an abiding state of being<\/em>. We lose sight of\nthe invitation\u2014and in fact, our <em>responsibility<\/em>,\nas stewards of creation\u2014to develop a conscious and permanent connection to this\nwellspring. We miss the call to become a vessel, to become a chalice into which\nthis divine energy can pour; a lamp through which it can shine. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ourselves are not the <em>source<\/em> of that hope; we do not manufacture it.\nBut the source dwells deeply within us and flows to us with an unstinting\nabundance, so much so that in fact it might be more accurate to say we dwell\nwithin it. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that this deeper current does exist and\nyou actually <em>can <\/em>find\nit. . . . For me the journey to the source of hope is ultimately a <em>theological<\/em> journey: up and\nover the mountain to the sources of hope in the headwaters of the Christian\nMystery. This journey to the wellsprings of hope is not something that will\nchange your life in the short range, in the externals. Rather, it is something\nthat will change your innermost way of seeing. From there, inevitably, the\nexternals will rearrange. . . . <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The journey to\nthe wellsprings of hope is really a journey toward the center, toward the\ninnermost ground of our being where we meet and are met by God. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Universal Pattern Mystical Hope Thursday, \u202fApril 16, 2020 Hope is the main impulse of life. \u2014Ilia Delio, OSF [1] Because we are so quickly led to despair, most of us cannot endure suffering for long without some sliver of hope or meaning. However, it is worth asking ourselves about where our hope lies. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18751,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions\/18751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Hope is the main impulse of life.<\/em> \u2014Ilia Delio, OSF\n[1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Because we are so quickly led to despair, most of us\ncannot endure suffering for long without some sliver of hope or meaning.\nHowever, it is worth asking ourselves about where our hope lies. My friend and\ncolleague Cynthia Bourgeault makes a powerful distinction between what she\ncalls ordinary hope, \u201ctied to outcome . . . . an optimistic feeling . . .\nbecause we sense that things will get better in the future\u201d and mystical hope\n\u201cthat is a complete reversal of our usual way of looking at things. Beneath the\n\u2018upbeat\u2019 kind of hope that parts the seas and pulls rabbits out of hats, this\nother hope weaves its way as a quiet, even ironic counterpoint.\u201d She writes,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We might make the following observations about this other\nkind of hope, which we will call <em>mystical\nhope<\/em>. In contrast to our usual notions of hope:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome,\nto the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to\nexternal circumstances and conditions.<\/li><li>It has something to do with <em>presence<\/em>\u2014not a future good\noutcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by\nsomething intimately at hand.<\/li><li>It bears fruit within us at the psychological\nlevel in the sensations of strength, joy, and satisfaction: an \u201cunbearable\nlightness of being.\u201d But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from\noutward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within. . .<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>[It] is all too easy to understate and miss that hope is\nnot intended to be an extraordinary infusion, <em>but an abiding state of being<\/em>. We lose sight of\nthe invitation\u2014and in fact, our <em>responsibility<\/em>,\nas stewards of creation\u2014to develop a conscious and permanent connection to this\nwellspring. We miss the call to become a vessel, to become a chalice into which\nthis divine energy can pour; a lamp through which it can shine. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ourselves are not the <em>source<\/em> of that hope; we do not manufacture it.\nBut the source dwells deeply within us and flows to us with an unstinting\nabundance, so much so that in fact it might be more accurate to say we dwell\nwithin it. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that this deeper current does exist and\nyou actually <em>can <\/em>find\nit. . . . For me the journey to the source of hope is ultimately a <em>theological<\/em> journey: up and\nover the mountain to the sources of hope in the headwaters of the Christian\nMystery. This journey to the wellsprings of hope is not something that will\nchange your life in the short range, in the externals. Rather, it is something\nthat will change your innermost way of seeing. From there, inevitably, the\nexternals will rearrange. . . . <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The journey to\nthe wellsprings of hope is really a journey toward the center, toward the\ninnermost ground of our being where we meet and are met by God. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Universal Pattern Mystical Hope Thursday, \u202fApril 16, 2020 Hope is the main impulse of life. \u2014Ilia Delio, OSF [1] Because we are so quickly led to despair, most of us cannot endure suffering for long without some sliver of hope or meaning. However, it is worth asking ourselves about where our hope lies. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18751,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18749\/revisions\/18751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}