If you give a deaf man a colorful music box with an ethereal dancing figurine within it. Do you hope that he hears the music? Do you hope that he enjoys the visual beauty and pirouette of the ballerina? Or perhaps you hope that he simply appreciates the gesture of giving or that he passes it along to someone who can hear the music he only imagines.
Reasonableness and thoughtfulness are necessary companions to hope. Just like every choir needs a tenor. And in our example above, there is always hope if you search for it… hope before action, and hope after action. If we allow ourselves to linger in the remembrance of the the divine, our actions will become second nature and quite consistent with “hope.” Thoughtfully listen to the entire choir, if you want to hear the tenor.
