HOPE is a Sewer Rat
Centuries ago, a king who was fatigued by years of battle summoned the artisans of the kingdom. They were challenged to create a piece of art that would be placed in his inner chambers and offer him peace and HOPE as he gazed upon it. Such is the nature of art, I think. Like HOPE, it has the power to transform and take you places that are not currently being experienced.
The artisans, to comply with his wishes, brought ideas and samples before the king including calm grassy hillsides, fields of sunlit flowers, and calming portraits of animals like sheep and birds. The whole kingdom was surprised when the king chose a picture from one artisan that was of a raging tempest. Dark, rainy, wind-blown clouds and trees. The king’s advisors asked the king, “why would this offer him peace and HOPE” The king then pointed out something they had not seen. In the crotch of one of the tree limbs, there was a bird’s nest where a family of birds were finding shelter from the storm. The king replied, “Peace and HOPE are not most alive in the absence of conflict or difficulty. They are most alive in the midst of them.”
Upon contemplating this story, I am reminded of a poem that was shared with me by a dear friend not long ago about the nature of HOPE. I must say, with no disrespect to the author, Caitlin Seida, I have edited a couple of words to make it appropriate for this article.
Hope is not a thing with feathers
That comes home to roost
When you need it most.
HOPE is an ugly thing
With teeth and claws and
Patchy fur that has seen some “stuff”
It’s what thrives in the discards
And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,
Able to find a way to go on
When nothing else can even find a way in.
It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such diseases as
Optimism, persistence, perseverance, and joy,
Transmissible as it drags its tail across your path and
Bites you in the “butt”
HOPE is not some delicate, beautiful bird, Emily
It’s a lowly sewer rat.
That snorts pesticides like they were lines of coke and still
Shows up on time to work the next day
Looking no worse for wear.
I think this captures the HOPE that we see every day. It shines the brightest and survives in the darkest places and even seasons of life. In the midst of all the pain, confusion, uncertainty, and life that is out of control, HOPE endures, possessing the power of a reclaimed life.