7.06.2008
3 is a magic number...
Our lesson in Relief Society today was about Hope. I was sitting there as we talked about the difference between Faith and Hope, how to get Hope, etc. and I have to admit, I got a little more confused. I thought I understood Hope. But the more I thought about it today the more I wasn't so sure. I always thought of the difference between the two as: you have to have Hope to have Faith. I know that Hope is positive, but I came away from the lesson with the feeling that Hope had a much deeper meaning, that I couldn't quite grasp. I guess I always figured that Faith was sort of like the "knowledge" of your Hope. Maybe I have it backwards? As my thoughts evolved this afternoon, it came to me that maybe Faith is Hope in action. John said, well then, is Charity - Faith in action? Why, yes, I think so! How close all 3 are tied together. I loved how we talked about the way to have more Hope is to practice Charity. You will build Hope and Faith through Charity. As your Faith grows, then your Hope will too. I don't know if any of this made sense, just my rambling, but thought I would share. Thanks Louise for the thought provoking lesson. Feel free to discuss. =)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Huh..I will have to think about it for a little bit. I miss relief society! I love YW, but miss NOT teaching sometimes... Sounds like a good lesson :)
I've always thought of the three connecting like that too. In fact I've gone through the same string of thoughts you just described. Thank you for sharing that! I don't often get to have the deeper discussions in Primary.
Now you have me thinking too. Hope has actually always been a little confusing to me. Especially the way it is presented so often. I do believe it is a deeper meaning than we think about most often. I love how you described the 3 intertwined. It made me miss Relief Society.
I’m happy to know that lesson prompted more thought and discussion on the topic of Hope. I picked that subject hoping my understanding would grow. I learned a lot from our discussion in RS about how to be more hopeful. Sounds like I managed to just muddy the waters in the definition area, however. My favorite quote explaining the difference between Faith and Hope is this one from John Tanner:
” Hope focuses on deeply personal possibilities about our own lives rather than on impersonal facts. As we all know, it is possible to believe wholeheartedly that God’s purposes will prevail and yet lack what the scriptures call a “lively hope” that the Lord’s purposes will prevail in our own lives or in the lives of our loved ones.”
The way I understand that is that faith is in the Savior and His and the Father’s plan, hope is that it applies to US – that WE will be redeemed. Mormon taught that true hope comes only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ: "What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise" (Moroni 7:41).
Also helpful to me was Elder Maxwell pointing out that the opposite of Faith is Doubt; the opposite of Hope is Despair. Then Cheryl Staheli pointed out in our discussion that it is clear to her, after some reflection where her doubt and despair usually comes from -- Satan, to name names, trying to foster in us another bad ‘d’ word, discouragement.
Related to the idea that the three principles (faith, hope, charity) work together, J. Tanner wrote: “In scripture as in life, the relationship among faith, hope, and charity is circular and interactive… Think how hope readies your heart to feel love…When we are full of hope, we tend to be able to love ourselves and others better. ..Without hope, we feel unloveable and unloving. Hope makes us receptive to the pure love of Christ.”
Thanks for posting your thoughts on this and other important topics. You are doing a great work, Abi.
Post a Comment