The Thing With Feathers

In case you aren't up on your Emily Dickinson, the "thing" is hope. I will post the poem in its entirety at the end of this post. After all, this isn't lit class; it's your drive-thru stop for a spiritual snack. But for those of you who want more of a meal, the satiating lines of Emily's famous poem are on the menu. No extra charge.

Here's a little appetizer, though:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,

You have probably seen that on coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, key chains, or necklaces. Emily was always good with the metaphors, and this one is no exception. So, hope is a little birdie in our soul. If you're a They Might Be Giants fan (and I would guess they are Emily Dickinson fans), then you probably know their popular song that urges the listener to "make a little birdhouse in your soul." In other words, make room for hope. After all, without hope, life ain't worth living, right?

In the Catholic Church, where I was spiritually fed for years, the biggest sin of all wasn't adultery, or theft, or even murder (although that IS a biggie). It was giving up hope. We can overcome anything else, as long as we have that. Hope offers room for forgiveness, the potential for change, and the mercy for redemption. When I keep driving around the full parking lot at Kennesaw Mountain Park, looking for an empty space, that's hope that I'm going to get up that mountain eventually. When I put acne cream on a zit three days before an event coming up, I'm hoping it'll be gone in time. When I send a query letter to an agent, I do it with hope. When I brought two children into the world...hope. Ladies, when you shave your legs before a date, or guys, when you pack a little something in your wallet...oh, you're hoping alright.

But can hope sometimes be a bad thing? Without getting too dark here, I have watched loved ones do destructive things to themselves, while I helplessly stood by, unable to do anything. If you're familiar with that serenity prayer (again, see the coffee mugs and fridge magnets), then you know we are supposed to have courage to change the things we can, but serenity to accept the things we can't. One lesson I have learned so far in this School of Life is that "people" fall into that second category. Making someone quit drinking (or smoking, or eating poorly) is tantamount to forcing someone get a college degree against his will. Hard enough when they really want it. Impossible if they don't. I know this from experience. I wrote letters, I cried, I made threats, I shut people out, I begged. Nothing really made a difference. And that hurt even more than ever.

My little bird has spent many a cold night in that birdhouse, shivering and waiting for some warmth that never came. There have been times when I thought it might be a lot easier to just let her go. Open the cage door (I know, I'm mixing metaphors now) and shoo her right outta there. Then at least I could quit thinking about how things "could be." In the case of Acceptance vs Hope, how do we vote? People say "Hope for the best and expect the worst." But is that even possible? I'm trying, but I'm still learning how to hold on to hope, but let go of expected outcomes. At times, it feels like a roller coaster ride...and I have motion sickness. There are moments when I just want to get off the ride and sit on that bench over there.

But I don't.

In darkness, there is always the potential for light. Although I have suffered seeing loved ones in moments of despair, I have also been blessed enough to witness the miracle of human redemption. Never throw anyone away. You just never know what can happen. It's not something that is in your control, but it is possible for people to change, if they want it badly enough. So, hope may be a gamble, but it's worth the return if you hit the jackpot. And as the saying goes, "You have to play to win."

Life isn't about dichotomies: good and evil, dark and light, right and wrong. (It would be a lot simpler if it were.) It's about continuums. What we perceive as good and evil are opposite ends of a continuum, and we live in the "betweens." So, hope and acceptance are on the same line. We just have to decide where on that line we can comfortably live. I hope to be a successful writer someday, doing what I love and making a good living at it. For now, I accept that I make a meager but sustainable living as a professor. And I keep on writing.

Okay, as promised, here is "Hope." Enjoy!
For some reason, I feel like going out to buy a few lottery tickets...

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~Emily Dickinson