The Way Forward

I believe that all of us humans (and all the rest of the cosmos) are made and sustained by God, our Creator.  So I believe we share a fundamental makeup as humans, regardless of theology or community.  Without that common basis, for example, in biology, we can't really talk to one another about anything we might have in common.

So I see psychology (and especially the positive psychology informed by the hard insights of modern neuroscience) as a real source of helpful information and insight in this conversation.  Hope has become a topic of serious social psychological and neuropsychological study.  A brief introduction to this area of study can be found at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201112/the-will-and-ways-hope.

Hope has become a subject of serious neuropsychological research.  The nature of hope as a method, therefore, is being explored and uncovered daily.  Practices and methods of hoping are being tested and refined by some of the smartest people in the business.  At some moments I have found insights from that research to be life-saving, literally.

New life after the death of a spouse motivates me to write here.  I was astonished to realize that all paths forward in my life were deeply rooted in life with Anne.  All of those common paths to the future were now closed off, no longer available.  I learned that in psychological terms, pathway flexibility is one of the elements of the method of hoping.

In brief, I found that either I would choose new paths to the future or I would die.  For some moments early on, taking my own life was a real option.  But the timely intervention of friends removed that option from my consideration.  So I began the process of exploring, discovering and embracing new paths to the future.  I used what Charles Snyder calls my "waypower."

Of course, if you don't know where you're going, any path will do.  So goals are also part of the methodology of hope.  Living with life-ends that matter, pursuing purposes greater than ourselves--these are critical elements in hoping.  The content of hope and the practice of hoping push me "beyond me and the moment."  If I am confined only to myself and my own resources, hope becomes a meaningless experience and a pointless idea.

Since I am a Christian, my hope is rooted in an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church.  Those relationships support, strengthen and use my hope.  Those relationships keep me connected to the goals so critical to my personal hoping practice.

I know other communities--for example, the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous--that function in similar ways.  AA is a fellowship created so that alcoholics in recover can share their "experience, strength and hope" with one another.  Hope is not a solitary pursuit.  Hoping is not a solo performance.  Choosing hope for a lifetime depends on self-transcending goals and a supportive community of hopeful companions who can show the way and hear my story.