A hope or a wish?

Is there a difference between being hopeful and wishful? Church folk like to use the word hope a lot.  Is our hope as Jesus followers just a different way of using wishful thinking? I sometimes wonder the intent on how it is said and what the hearer actually hears through the filter of their life.  Are we really hope-full people or are we merely sending out "good thoughts and intentions" as if we are giving words to wishful thoughts?

I know for myself, I use the word hope quite a bit these days.

Here in the soggy northwest, I hope for sun.
I hope Mark's work in ministry is fulfilling.
I hope Mark's dissertation is received well.
I hope my kids and grandkids continue to grow in grace.
I hope Boom settles into high school well.
I hope my health is good.
I hope Mark's folks health is good.
I hope My Mom's days are full of laughter, joy and peace as she deals with her cancer.
I hope the same for my Dad who is not only my Mom's caregiver but her support.

As I said, I hope for a lot. But I really don't want my hopes to be just positive, kind thoughts, sent out to the universe in some version of cosmic karma. I want my hopes to be placed in the very heart of God based in love, and safe in the goodness of God's character. I want to be all in, so to speak, so my hopes aren't about me, but are about the One in whom I place those precious hopes.

Henri Nouwen writes in With Open Hands  that one of his students separated hope and wishful thinking this way;
I see hope as an attitude where everything stays open before me. Not that I don't think of my future in those moments, but I think of it in an entirely different way. Daring to stay open to whatever will come to me today, tomorrow, two months from now, or a year from now- that is hope. To go fearlessly into things without knowing how they'll turn out, to keep on going, even when something doesn't work out the first time, to have trust in whatever you are doing- that is living in hope.


Well, you know I am captured by going fearlessly into the future! Not that I can maintain that hope continually, of course... But I am on the journey, intentionally risking and loving (albeit imperfectly), I am hoping in the very character of God.

I shall be hoping and praying for my Mom and Dad, Mark's folks and Carrie tonight. Not wishful thoughts, but a deep hope in God's goodness for them.

And  blessings on you as you hope. May you also hope in the depth of God's love.
K