Hope: The Spiritual Thread That Carries Us Forward

By Dr. Katie Eastman & Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino

When life feels uncertain, hope is often the light we cling to. Hope is more than wishful thinking—it is a spiritual practice, a way of orienting ourselves toward possibility, even when the present feels heavy.

Hope doesn’t deny reality. It doesn’t pretend that pain, loss, or challenge don’t exist. Instead, hope says: Even in this, there may still be something good ahead. It is a belief that tomorrow can hold meaning, growth, or healing, even if today feels overwhelming.

Psychologists describe hope as the ability to imagine possibilities and pathways forward (Snyder, 2002). Research has shown that hope contributes to greater resilience, improved coping, and even better health outcomes. Spiritually, hope helps us stay connected to meaning, to love, and to the sense that we are never fully alone.

In Uplifting: Inspiring Stories of Loss, Change, and Growth, Dr. Katie reflected on how hope often comes in small, unexpected ways. Sometimes it looks like laughter shared at a bedside during illness. Sometimes it’s the courage to take one small step when the whole journey feels impossible. Dr. Katie also emphasizes that hope is not about the outcome—it is about the attitude and approach we adopt during a challenging experience. Hope is a posture of openness, resilience, and trust, even when the future remains uncertain. She tells of learning this from a little girl in Ukraine who, despite the danger of bombings, stepped outside to rejoin friends and community. Knowing she might die changed nothing about the child’s decision to keep living—to believe that a peaceful life was possible in her future. That fierce, simple choice—to step forward in the face of fear—became for Dr. Katie a clear, living lesson in what hope can be.

Elizabeth expands on this in The Success Guidebook and The Change Guidebook, reminding us that hope is also a choice we can cultivate. When we pause long enough to reflect on what we value most, we create room for hope. Choosing to pursue a passion, shift a perspective, or embrace gratitude is an act of hope—an act of trusting that life can keep unfolding in meaningful ways.

In The Peace Guidebook, we call this a peaceful pause. Hope often lives in the pause—those moments when we step back from despair, take a breath, and choose to see that life still holds possibility. Hope does not erase suffering, but it can soften it, reminding us that we are more than our pain.

Religion often frames hope as faith—trust in God, Spirit, or the sacred order of life. But spirituality shows us that hope is also available in everyday choices: choosing kindness over bitterness, choosing connection over isolation, choosing to imagine tomorrow even when today hurts.

Hope is not fragile. It is resilient. It carries us forward, threads us to one another, and keeps us open to what is possible.

✨ Reflection Prompt: Where in your life do you need hope right now? What small act—of gratitude, connection, or courage—might help you cultivate it today?