As I go thru a situation, sometimes I am banking on it unfolding the way I want it to unfold. Who wouldn’t, right? Each one of us may label it something different, things like; positive energy, vibes, even prayer. Simply giving it all we’ve got with great anticipation for the desired outcome. If it does not come out my way, there’s that……. Disappointment. It could be a little disappointment or a great disappointment, either way, we’re down on ourselves, and we wonder or dwell on why it did not come out my way. Disappointment has a very large scale, from a simple blah moment all the way to depression.

Oh come on Reda, you may say, disappointment is part of life. Indeed it is, but it does not have to be on the scale that has created the ‘ME’ ‘ME’ culture that we presently live in. Like anything, we can minimize it or allow it to grow rampantly. HOW?  The answer is Simple. STOP expecting and teach your children to STOP expecting!? You are probably chuckling right now, as it is just in our nature to expect things………… right? I suggest that we can ‘hope’ instead of ‘expect’.    Semantics, right? Nope, not at all. Please note that simplicity illuminates while complexity occludes.  So here’s a simple illustration that expectation and hope are polar opposites, and therefore a choice needs to be made between them, every time. Note the jest of the following is applicable in relationships, interactions with family, at work, at church………… a life style my friend.

A sentence to describe expectation;       If I work hard I will get a bonus.

• Therefore the ‘work hard’ is the path to getting a bonus
• My ‘work hard ‘ is to serve myself by receiving a reward for my hard work
• Patting myself on the shoulder when I get it (I’d include thanks in my prayers of course), and be angry filled with resentment if I do not get it
• Chances are my ‘work hard’ will be affected by not getting the bonus

A sentence to describe hope;    I will work hard and a bonus would be nice if I get one.

• The ‘work hard’ is not a path to get anything, rather it is an attitude, a way of action
• My ‘work hard’ is to serve those that I am working for and not to serve myself
• I am thankful to God & those that gave me the bonus
• My ‘work hard’ will not be affected by receiving or not receiving the bonus

Please note in a relational aspect, an expected bonus is nothing other than an expected ‘thank you’ for something I’ve done or an expected recognition for something I’ve performed.

Expectation is all about ‘ME’ and thus lacks the humility that we should infuse our lives with. I hope, no pun intended, that the sentences describing expectation and hope above, express the lack of humility in ‘Expectation’ while emphasizing the humility in ‘Hope’.

Expectation        =             Disappointment
Disappointment leads to dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction instigates us to be bitter
Bitterness breeds division and strife

Words associated with failed Expectation are; want, desire, anger, disappointment, irritation, resentment…..          the “I deserved to get it (ME)” attitude

Hope                     =             Acceptance
Acceptance leads to contentment
Contentment instigates us to be at Peace
and Peace breeds Joy

Words associated with failed Hope are; faith, contentment, harmony, peace, acceptance, love, gratification……     the “it’s OK, maybe next time (hope)” attitude

With such descriptions, ‘Hope’ wins every time, but then why doesn’t it?

Because expectation is all about ‘ME’ and hope is about the community. Because expectation is about what it looks on the outside and hope is about how it feels on the inside. Because expectation is EASY and hope requires WORK, and history has proven that ‘we’ would rather not work at it. But we can change the course of history by choosing to work at it. It takes practice and continual practice at that, but the result is just fantastical.

Look at our political partisanship, our ‘my way or the highway’, our ‘if you are not with me you are against me’, our divisions in the churches, all simple proof of our history and culture of strife and bitterness. It is time to work on changing it. Of course it starts with the man/woman in the mirror, but the next step is to ask the person next to you to turn around to look in the mirror as well. This can be in the form of asking the questions that would make the person go, ‘yeah, yeah, why do we do that?’ It is now time for me to ask the same questions I ask each time;

So have you thought about these questions; Did God intend to have so many divisions within His church/ Is God’s LOVE for man means to fight over what Jesus said or meant/ Is God looking at us delighted about our divisions or sad? Simple questions begging a simple answer, and that answer is; we have created the divisions and using FAITH, HOPE & LOVE we can undo them and reunite. It is possible not impossible. Why? Because it is indeed God’s plan for us to be united in Him. ALL united in Him. Till next week 🙂