May 24, 2019 ~ Hope as Present Tense

We are having such interesting conversations around our Topics of the Day, that our recording secretary (namely, me!) is becoming quite lax about taking notes!

Today's topic was facilitated by NE who asked us to consider Hope. I've extracted this from the email she sent before the meeting:

The topic is "Hope as Present Tense."  As food for thought, here is a quote from Desmond Tutu that I find profound.  It sums up my approach to hope.

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."

 

And here are two other jewels about hope:

"You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own."  Michelle Obama

"Hope is that thing with feathers 

 That perches in the soul

 And sings the tune without the words

 And never stops at all."  Emily Dickinson

We all enjoyed a lively discussion in which we agreed to disagree, though we, each, came to understand our two main Points of
View (POV).
The first, Hope as Present Tense, was fairly clear. If one is feeling 'hopeful', she is certainly feeling that now.  "I hope my children grow up to be happy" or "I hope the cake doesn't fall".
Most consensus about this POV centered around Desmond Tutu's quote about being able to see the light in spite of darkness. Some of us would have called this more an attitude toward life, than about hope, itself. But his meaning seemed clear, and this was a statement on which we could agree.

The other side of this discussion is one that posits that the "Hope" is hopeful feelings that are future-based, as in "I hope this cold doesn't get worse", or "I hope my kid will go to college". The feelings may be present tense, but we considered feelings to be emotions in the present, and that the Hope itself was an attitude or POV, and remained, future-based.

 

In other business, Kate H. volunteered to facilitate the next meeting on June 14th.
And we have planned a movie meeting for the 28th to watch Antonia's Line, a movie about strong women. Mel and NE will facilitate that meeting. This synopsis was posted on IMDb:
"A Dutch matron establishes and, for several generations, oversees a close-knit, matriarchal community where feminism and liberalism thrive."

 

See ya next time...
PS: I added the topic Sleep to our list... with questions :)