Defining Hope
- The English dictionary definition of hope is "a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen:" or "a feeling of trust" or even "want something to happen or be the case".
- In the Bible hope is defined as "confident expectation and trust in God and His promises. It is not merely wishful thinking but a sure and confident expectation of receiving what God has promised in the future"
- The Greek word for "hope" is ἐλπίς, pronounced elpis. It means "expectation" or "confidence". The word implies that something is going to happen, and the subject is anticipating it with confidence
I chose to look at these 3 particular definitions because they closely resonate with my definition of hope.
"The dictionary definition"
I chose to focus on this definition as I believe that it gives a clean and focused definition. I really resonated with the words of "trust" and "expectation". However, these definitions still didn't fully show what hope means to me.
"The bible definition"
I chose to focus on the Bible definition as my faith is an important part of my life and I believe that hope is a key factor in this. Again this definition mentioned trust and expectations but what really stuck with me was the word "future" which inspired me to add future elements in my project.
"The Greek definition"
As I knew I wanted Pandora's box as baseline I decided to look into the Greek definition of hope once again mentioning this word expectation!!! Which really interested me so i knew I needed to include expectation in my definition.
Cornelian principles
Cornelian Principles meanings in the Bible
- Joy = Biblical joy is choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction, because we know that God will use these experiences to accomplish His work in and through our lives.
- compassion = a profound and empathetic concern for the suffering of others.
- integrity = the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It is often associated with righteousness and involves living in accordance with God's laws.
- curiosity = double-edged sword, capable of leading individuals toward greater understanding and wisdom, or toward temptation and sin.
- courage = the quality of mind that enables one to face danger and difficulties with firmness and without fear.
- respect = In 1 Peter 2:17 NIV, the apostle commands us to "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor".
How i think hope is shown in each of these
- Joy = I believe that hope is found in joy because joy can be found in even the darkest of times, a quote by Joseph Campbell rally shows this " We cannot cure the world of sorrow but we can choose to live in joy". This really shows how we have hope to find joy
- Compassion = I find hope in compassion as without hope we would not have the ability to find empathy for the suffering, if we had no hope we would never be able to find the motivation to do these things.
- Integrity = Hope is not just about longing for something but being able to have righteousness and follow our beliefs and faith.
- Curiosity = not only does this theme carry through pandora's life but her curiosity gives her hope that there is something beyond what she knows. Just like her our curiosity is born from wanting something more and greater
- Courage = We must find courage in all that we do and where does courage come from? Hope! Without hope what will motivate us to be brave
- Respect = We must have respect for everyone and so we must hope that others will also do this.
My definition of hope
Final definition
My final definition of hope is that it is an expectation and longing for a better world and future. It is finding joy and compassion in everything you do, it is having integrity and respect in one another, it is having the courage to take a stand and having the curiosity to find hope in your life and seize it.