Five Minute Friday: Hope

Hope is the thing that keeps me going.

There’s a lot of people who don’t like that “pie in the sky after you die” style of Christian theology that hopes for a better life after you die, so you can put up with a lot of crap in this one. I understand that, and it’s a concept that has definitely been misused to justify a lot of oppression and evil.

But for me, it’s a very real thing.

I’m not oppressed, but I have bipolar disorder. There is no cure for it. I take medicines that work, thank God. It keeps the demons at bay, and I’m very grateful. But there are many hard days, and that will never stop happening while I’m still alive.

So, yes. I do hope for Heaven. I want to be well and I think that’s the only place where it will happen.

Until then, I just keep taking my medicine and doing my best to combat negative thinking with a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy exercises and reading theology (especially Aquinas). To me, that’s hope. Taking the medicine isn’t just “something to do,” it’s an exercise in hope. I hope I’ll feel good every day. I hope maybe someday they will develop something better. I hope one day I’ll see Jesus.

I can’t give up on hope.

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I hope you’ll join me with the NEW Five Minute Friday at Kate Motaung’s place. (General details here.) You can find a bunch of folks who have managed to sit still long enough to scavenge something from the unruly hoard of thoughts. No judging allowed.