A Navajo Smile

"Now there are some things we all know, but we don’t take’m out and look at’m very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars…everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings…There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being." ~Thornton Wilder

Here's something I often" take out and look at". Something that helps me think and see beyond the daily distractions. This is a photo taken in 1904 by Edward S Curtis. It is titled "A Navajo Smile" and is completely unique when compared to his hundreds of other photographs. Don't you want to know her? Doesn't she seem wonderful? Photographs like this point me to the eternities when I lose my comfort in them. There are things in life, big things, that the thought of eternity cannot always soothe. But this photo of a woman who lived in a painful time for her people always centers me. 

She exudes hope; hope for the day and hope for the eternities.

  

Faith, hope and charity all work together. I believe the greatest of those attributes is charity.

 But hope has sure gotten me through some rough spots. 

Hope is different than comfort, peace, or clarity, but it leads to all of them.

I've been promised many joyful reunions when I leave this earth and there are some I greatly look forward to and anticipate every day. Then there are some people I just can't wait to meet.

This woman is one of those people. 

She's convinced me to analyze hope in my life. Who brings me hope? How do I foster hope? 

How does hope impact me? How do we most effectively offer hope to others? 

As Zora Neale Hurston said, "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." 

Here's to hoping 2014 does a whole lot of both!