Hope Anchors The Soul

Hello Friends,

Recently I saw the title of this blog letter on a t-shirt.  Hope Anchors the Soul.  I was thinking about this concept today as I stood in beautiful park next to the river where the local Memorial Day service was taking place.  It made me wonder.  If hope anchors the soul, then what anchors hope?

I've always felt like moving here was/is the right decision for me.  I love the warm weather, the laid back lifestyle and friendlier atmosphere.  However, having been here over a year I feel like there's really nothing that anchors me.  This is sort of a strange concept to me as I came from a place where I have five generations buried in the local cemetery.  My roots run deep there.

Here, I live in an apartment.  It is adequate.  It meets my basic needs.  I have my stuff in it but it's not mine to do as I please with.  I have my job but that too feels transient, either within the company or in a whole new direction.  And with a schedule that varies each week in days and shifts worked, it would be hard to volunteer or join some kind of group that meets on a regular basis.  Since I'm not the type to make friends quickly, that has also taken some time to begin laying down those roots.

So as I stood there at the Memorial Day service pondering all this, the mayor did something unusual.  He said that he wanted to do what he has participated in when he's attended events at the Legion.  He asked everyone in attendance to all join hands while he played a recording of Lee Greenwood's song God Bless the USA.  And there Hope was, hand in hand, anchored in a sea of strangers.  It was in that moment that I realized what really anchors us is perhaps not just the big things in life but a series of small things.  And that a sense of belonging and community can be found anywhere as long as we're willing to look for and see it.

"There ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA."  And God bless everyone for that matter.

Until next time...
Peace & Love,
Hope