The Phenomenology of Hope

When we think of hope it is often in terms of stories. A range of modalities and disciplines from narrative therapy through to the narrative emphasis in biblical studies and theology have realized the potential of stories to heal and give hope on the one hand, or to undermine hope and cause despair on the other hand. Stories fill out the emotional landscape; they help us to identify with the characters and take on imaginary lives or virtues. Hope in stories is effected in most cases not by a leap of logic, but indwelling the story, by unconsciously taking on a whole lifeworld that is evoked by the narrative. "A scriptural world", says George Lindbeck "is able to absorb the universe." Hope is stance, a way of being in the world, a belief that in spite of the logical evidence available, there is another deeper source of ultimate concern. We are called to hope, very often, because we have read and indwelt heroic stories of perseverance in the face of dreadful odds.