There is a longing in all of humanity. Something inside pulls us toward something greater. We naturally seek something more than just the right now. We seek a variety of things. Some will seek fame, a name that stays on long after they are gone; some money to have whatever they think they need now; others seek fleeting moments of pleasure looking for a pleasure that will last. All of these have something in common. The common element is some sort of idea of happiness. People long for that which they think will make them happy. For each person that longing takes shape in a different way.
What this longing tells us is there is something more to this life, something greater than ourselves. We are not content with where we are or what we have, or the happiness we have reached because there is always more. This longing gives us hope. The hope is that there is something which can fulfill that happiness, something that is a complete happiness.
We are different than animals in this facet, we look beyond who we are. We ask questions like "how?" and "why?". We ask these questions because we know there is something more than just what this world offers. The fact that we can even ask these questions shows there is something greater than us that we seek.
In times of trouble, in moments of distress we reach out in the hope that someone, something will be there for us. We do that because we know there is something more. Hope gives us strength, it gives us purpose, and it gives us direction. Why do we hope? We hope because we know there is more than what lies before us, we know there is depth to existence. We hope because it is written into our hearts to hope, to know whatever we face is not the end. We are truly living when we hope, and it is only when we give up hope that we are no longer being truly human.
Click here to find out what we should hope in.
Below you will find some common questions about hope.