Hope : Part 1

I think we overuse the word hope. People throw it around all the time in casual conversation. "I hope the Dallas Mavericks win the championship." "I hope I can get a reservation for Friday night." Not that these are incorrect uses of the word. After all, hope is a desire for something to happen, with expectations or confidence that the something will actually happen. The Mav's are playing very well this year. I think they probably have their best chance ever. I can talk about statistics, matchups, desires, common goals for players and a coaching staff that knows how to win. So, yes, I have reasons to have hope that they will win the championship for the first time in their 26 years as a team. On the second use of the word hope, I know that I have been able to get reservations at my favorite restaurant on numerous other Friday nights. And, this Friday is not a special holiday that might bring more people out to eat than normal. So, I can expect based on these things that I will be able to get a reservation.

But these are really just wishes with some reasoning to back them up. I could just as easily say, "I would really enjoy seeing the Mav's win the championship, and I've got a lot of reason to believe they can do it." Or I might say, "I'd really like to get a reservation for Friday", and leave it at that. Really that's all I meant when I first used the word hope. It was more about something I would like to happen. More of just a wish, a desire, a feeling of longing even. But, I wouldn't bet much on either happening, because they're not worth much. These things carry no real weight in the scheme of things.

So the question is then, what is worthy of our hope? And why?

To be Cont'd.