Never give up on Hope!

I do my best to have hope and faith in people and our world, but it's not always easy.  There's a lot in the world today that, if focused on, will bring down even the happiest person.  Where is the source of my hope?  My sense of hope originates in my faith and trust in God, demonstrated through the acts of kindness seen every day, if we are looking for them.  God cannot be "seen", but I feel that if we look for the kindness in others, there is where we "see" God.  God is found in this world in the acts of kindness of others.  And when we experience these acts of kindness we recognize, once again, that sense of hope.  But, it's not always easy.

How can we keep up an inner sense of hope and faith in God active in our world when we have days where the negative actions of others overwhelm us?  The only answer I have is to change our perspective.  To change the way I see the world and others around me.  I often write and reflect on the need to change perspective, so when I recently came across this story I had to share it.  I do not know the author of the story, but it's been making the rounds of social media.  Please spend a moment reflecting on the moral of the story; the need for us to change our perspective on life, no matter what life throws our way.

"One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well.  The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.  Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.  He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.  They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.  At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.  A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well.  He was astonished at what he saw.  With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.  He would shake it off and take a step up.  As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!"