Summary: "... we shall hew from this mountain of despair a small stone of hope." — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.<br> <br> What is hope? How do we find hope when we are overwhelmed by a mountain of despair? Spencer, Maria, and May talk about their experiences of finding hope in the midst of their times of confusion, fear, and despair.<br> <br> Some of the questions we used to guide our discussion included these:<br> <br> How did you experience hope before you came to the program?<br> Did you “hope for” particular outcomes?<br> Has your conception or experience of hope changed as you have worked the program?<br> Do you see a difference between having a hopeful attitude versus an optimistic attitude?<br> The "Stockdale paradox" is that the POWs in Vietnam who didn't survive were the optimists.<br> In his “dream” speech, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”<br> What does this say to you?<br> Does faith support or engender hope for you? (Faith in a higher power, faith in the program, faith that there are good people, faith…)<br> How can we find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation?<br> Can hope lift us from despair, as King suggests?<br>
