hope (n):  a feeling of expectation and desire
for a certain thing to happen

It’s more than a passing fancy, more than a vague wish for something nice.  Hope, the real stuff, is full of desire, of deep, intense longing.  It’s founded on expectation, a firm belief that something will happen.  And it’s specific –  the desire and the expectation are focused on a particular object or outcome.

Hope can bide its time.  It can lie dormant for a season, buried deep, but it is always alive, always alert and watching for its moment to burst into blossom, into something visible and tangible and vibrant.

“Hope is a yearning rooted in reality, that pulls
us toward the radical biblical vision of a world
where truth and justice and  peace do prevail,
a time in which the knowledge of God will
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea…”
~ Katharine Paterson