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Stan Burfield If a person's hope is destroyed, so is their motivation to live.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 15:45
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Barbara Green There's gotta be more to this story.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 17:03
Stan Burfield Well, my sister and I were talking on the phone. Her life is very difficult, and we were talking about mine and others' as well. Suddenly I burst out with, "This world is definitely not Heaven," and from there, of course, we went to denying that it was Hell either. We settled for it being a place where if you had the normal amount of luck and a little ability to control your environment (the normal amount) then you should be able, in Canada, to have a few enjoyable, maybe even happy, times now and then. Then I went for a walk to the grocery store and on the way saw a sign for 6/49 tickets, and Hope jumped out at me. Of course, it's the motivator that drives everyone to carve out those little bits of enjoyment in this grungy space between Heaven and Hell.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:12
Stan Burfield Hope keeps you moving away from hell towards heaven.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:16
Barbara Green Stan Burfield So hell would be loss of hope ... probably true if you consider that people do desperate things -- murder, rape, war -- only when hope of something better has utterly gone. And some engage in war because they hope to either preserve or create a better outcome for themselves or their families. So in that case maybe hope can also lead to hell. You know what they say about good intentions ...
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:21
Barbara Green However ... that's just sophistry. Here's the thing. The thing that Is, is Hope. The feared thing, Hell, is the result not of some existent evil, but only of the lack of the positive thing. I ws talking to the kids recently about how most (not all) evil seems not to be anything in itself, but rather the lack of the good created, existent thing. The way shadow/dark is nothing in itself, only blocked light.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:22
Barbara Green I don't fully believe that your intention/imagination creates reality. However, where you direct your attention certainly does influence your direction, and whether you have the motive power to go anywhere at all, that's clear. Lack of hope = depression, which robs you of the motive and the power to act at all.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:25
Stan Burfield Yes. I agree everywhere except for what Hell is. Certainly it can be created by evil people, and is in a lot of situation, but mostly I think it's just circumstance. Being born in a very poor, crowded slum means that even a lot of hope will be unlikely to bring much happiness or enjoyment to most of the residents there. Similarly, there are many circumstances in Canada that amount to Hell.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:32
Barbara Green Yes, Some of it is as you say, an Is, a condition. And yet there are people -- think of Mendela, wrongly imprisoned, beaten, his own movement including his wife evolving into something bitter, and he chooses to remain free. I don't mean to minimize anyone's pain or difficulties (though I can hardly help doing that, having had a very easy existence). But there is something to the aphorism that pain is inevitable, but suffering is not.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:42
Stan Burfield Just reread what you said about evil above, and it's pretty much what I said, sorry.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:50
Barbara Green Nothing to apologize for! (Except that we can't help it -- just having a concurrent fb conversation with an American friend about Canadians' over-politeness.)
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:51
Stan Burfield Ha ha. It's hard to overlay the world of politeness on the world of hope.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:56
Comments
Stan Burfield If a person's hope is destroyed, so is their motivation to live.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 15:45
Hide 11 Replies
Barbara Green There's gotta be more to this story.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 17:03
Stan Burfield Well, my sister and I were talking on the phone. Her life is very difficult, and we were talking about mine and others' as well. Suddenly I burst out with, "This world is definitely not Heaven," and from there, of course, we went to denying that it was Hell either. We settled for it being a place where if you had the normal amount of luck and a little ability to control your environment (the normal amount) then you should be able, in Canada, to have a few enjoyable, maybe even happy, times now and then. Then I went for a walk to the grocery store and on the way saw a sign for 6/49 tickets, and Hope jumped out at me. Of course, it's the motivator that drives everyone to carve out those little bits of enjoyment in this grungy space between Heaven and Hell.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:12
Stan Burfield Hope keeps you moving away from hell towards heaven.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:16
Barbara Green Stan Burfield So hell would be loss of hope ... probably true if you consider that people do desperate things -- murder, rape, war -- only when hope of something better has utterly gone. And some engage in war because they hope to either preserve or create a better outcome for themselves or their families. So in that case maybe hope can also lead to hell. You know what they say about good intentions ...
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:21
Barbara Green However ... that's just sophistry. Here's the thing. The thing that Is, is Hope. The feared thing, Hell, is the result not of some existent evil, but only of the lack of the positive thing. I ws talking to the kids recently about how most (not all) evil seems not to be anything in itself, but rather the lack of the good created, existent thing. The way shadow/dark is nothing in itself, only blocked light.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:22
Barbara Green I don't fully believe that your intention/imagination creates reality. However, where you direct your attention certainly does influence your direction, and whether you have the motive power to go anywhere at all, that's clear. Lack of hope = depression, which robs you of the motive and the power to act at all.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:25
Stan Burfield Yes. I agree everywhere except for what Hell is. Certainly it can be created by evil people, and is in a lot of situation, but mostly I think it's just circumstance. Being born in a very poor, crowded slum means that even a lot of hope will be unlikely to bring much happiness or enjoyment to most of the residents there. Similarly, there are many circumstances in Canada that amount to Hell.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:32
Barbara Green Yes, Some of it is as you say, an Is, a condition. And yet there are people -- think of Mendela, wrongly imprisoned, beaten, his own movement including his wife evolving into something bitter, and he chooses to remain free. I don't mean to minimize anyone's pain or difficulties (though I can hardly help doing that, having had a very easy existence). But there is something to the aphorism that pain is inevitable, but suffering is not.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:42
Stan Burfield Just reread what you said about evil above, and it's pretty much what I said, sorry.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:50
Barbara Green Nothing to apologize for! (Except that we can't help it -- just having a concurrent fb conversation with an American friend about Canadians' over-politeness.)
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:51
Stan Burfield Ha ha. It's hard to overlay the world of politeness on the world of hope.
Like · Reply · 7 June at 19:56
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