Sowers Of Hope
Exactly a year ago, on New Year’s Day, my phone rang unusually early morning. When I received the call, I could hear, Reena weeping in a loud voice. Startled, I tried to ask what the matter was, but all that I could perceive were the groans of unimaginable sorrow and grief. After persistent effort, I was dumbfounded to know that her only child, Iniyan, a13-year-old boy, died due to cardiac arrest. Overwhelmed with sorrow Reena asked, “Does God exist?”
People who go through similar situations of losing their loved ones tend to ask the question ‘Why?’ There prevails a sense of hopelessness that life has come to a standstill with the loss and grief. Furthermore, it is not just when people lose the loved ones that they feel hopeless. There is a desperate Reena hidden in the innumerable situations besetting the world today, in situations of despair and disappointment, doubts and distress, confusion and shock. In moments of loneliness and anguish, the victims do not know where to turn and who to turn to. The escalating number of suicides, especially among the youth is an example of the gravity of this situation.
Circumstances such as these, remind us of the vital responsibility of being ‘Sowers of hope.’ Hope can be a powerful weapon to wipe away fear, gloom and despair. Hope inspires us to do unimaginable things and works as an antidote to problems. History has shown us that hope works miracles and its contagious nature instills a desire to hold on. When everything is peeled and stripped bare, when circumstances rob every good aspect of life, only hope can enable one to rise up from the ashes of desolation.
Doesn’t it plainly tell us that the broken and wounded world today needs more people who can impart hope to those going through difficult phases of their lives? Certainly, it’s a call to kind-hearted individuals to give meaning to people in despair and help them to go on living, boost the confidence of someone who is insecure, and be an inspiration of peace and harmony at the workplace and in the family. Sometimes an optimistic environment alone propels hope forward and creates a momentum that can promote resilience.
Life offers innumerable opportunities to sow seeds of hope. We encounter people with numerous predicaments like prolonged sickness or diagnosis of terminal illness, loss of financial resources, escalating personal debt, failures in life, the ill treatments of an alcoholic life partner, betrayal of trust and confidence, love failure, and so on. In this state of affairs, people feel lost at the hands of a merciless universe. They feel terribly alone and on a path that has no way forward. They need a shoulder to lean on, comforting and motivating words to listen to, understanding friends to support, and a caring family to reassure help. Because, when we are in the dark it may be terrifying, but having someone with us in the dark makes it feel less so. Here comes one’s responsibility of kindling hope within them by giving encouragement and support; helping to cope with the realities of life, and thus helping them find a way to resume their life.
In life, no one can consciously avoid falling into despair by an act of will. By its very nature, it is an experience that we find ourselves in the midst of. Yet having a better understanding of hopelessness, having experienced it, and to some extent, having come to terms with it, helps us to be wounded healers.
It would be a blissful moment to see those whom we have touched become healers in return. Reena, after the sudden loss of Iniyan, was in a state of intense shock, disbelief and denial. She cried and mourned for weeks together to come to terms with the reality. She felt life was unfair, God had punished her and she failed in her responsibility as a good mother to take care of her son. But we know that time heals what reason cannot heal. Thanks to the emotional help rendered to her by her family and friends, which helped her bounce back and resume her life. She also pursued Ph.D. and learnt English which was Iniyan’s dream for her. She is a wounded healer today, who visits grief-stricken people and kindles hope, giving meaning and purpose to the dejected families.
In this New Year 2023, let us sow seeds of hope and give other Reenas in the world a second chance.
Sr. Rita Shanthi SCB