S. Michael Wilcox - Hope, an Anchor to the Soul

Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilcox, S. Michael.

Hope, an anchor to the soul / S. Michael Wilcox.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-57345-542-3

1. HopeReligious aspectsMormon Church. 2. Spiritual life

Mormon Church. I. Title.

BX8643.H67W55 1999

234.25dc2199-35843

CIP

Printed in the United States of America

109876543272082-6483

CHAPTER ONE

It is good that a man

should both hope

and quietly wait

for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:26

An Anchor to the Soul

I have heard many sermons on faith and charity and spoken about these topics many times myself, but hope was always a vague subject about which I knew very little. I probably would have described hope as wishful thinking. I decided to see what I could discover in the scriptures about this pillar of the gospel.

I have learned that hope is an intensely personal thing. It is lodged deep in the human spirit and manifests itself in various ways for different people, but we all need it, and our souls demand it as our bodies crave sleep and nourishment. The images the scriptures use to define hope testify of its absolute necessity in our lives. In these images I began to discover the beauty of hope and the reason it is so important.

The Images of Hope

Four images of hope are particularly compelling. We walk by the light of hope, find protection under the helmet of hope, drink deeply from the river of hope, and brave the wind and storms of life tied securely to the anchor of hope. Thus hope is a guide, a protection, a source of nourishment, and a stabilizing force for our lives. Let us examine these images and the ways the Lord uses them to encourage us in our mortal journey.

In the Book of Mormon hope is shown as a light, and the world is often portrayed as a dark place. Nephi said, Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope (2 Nephi 31:20). In the light of hope, our way becomes clear and fear is diminished. Walk through the darkness of mortality, the Lord seems to say to us, with my lamp of hope to light your way, to dispel your fears, and to keep you from stumbling or falling.

Hope is also a helmet, and life is a battle against the forces of the world and the adversary. Paul used this image while writing to the Thessalonians. Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8). When you engage in combat with the forces of the adversary, the Lord seems to instruct us, wear my helmet of hope to protect you. It will save your lives.

Hope in the Lord is like a constantly flowing river. That beautiful image of hope is found in Jeremiah. The man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, shall be like the heath [a juniper tree] in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. He contrasted this image of the tree living in the barrenness of the salt desert with the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit (Jeremiah 17:58). We are invited to drink from that river whose waters abound even in times of drought and heat. Send your roots toward my river of hope and drink deeply, the Lord seems to whisper. You will survive the severest droughts and the parched places of life.

The fourth image of hope, that of the anchor, we find in the book of Ether. Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world,... which hope cometh of faith, [and] maketh an anchor to the souls of men (Ether 12:4). Paul called hope an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast (Hebrews 6:19). Our lives may be likened to an ocean voyage. Perils from storms of wind and waves threaten our vessels. Cross the ocean of life with my anchor to steady you, the Lord calls. It will keep you from drifting and drowning.

All four images impart the same vital message. Our happiness and progression depend on our understanding the hope the Lord provides to carry us through mortality, this most critical period of our eternal existence.

In writing about hope I feel somewhat as Nephi may have felt when he declared, I write the things of my soul (2 Nephi 4:15). Rather than generalize or try to define abstractions, I have illustrated what the scriptures teach us about hope with examples from peoples lives and experiences. I believe that is the best way I can make clear how crucial hope is to all of us. Let us ponder the revealed truths of the scriptures and the experiences of life in search of hopethe light, the helmet, the river, and the anchor.

CHAPTER TWO

Now the God of hope

fill you with all joy

and peace in believing,

that ye may abound in hope,

through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:13

The Foundation of Faith and Hope

Hope is always connected to faith, and it is difficult to speak of one without the other. Both faith and hope, to remain constant, must have a solid foundation. The apostle Paul defined faith as the substance [assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1; JST Hebrews 11:1). Pauls choice of words is important: Faith is supported by evidence, or assurance; hope must have substance to it. We often think faith and hope are chiefly attached to the emotional aspect of our lives, but they are as concerned with the mind as with the heart.

The definition of faith given by Alma the Younger also links faith to hope and suggests that there must be evidence, or assurance, and substance to it: If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true (Alma 32:21). Truth will cut its own way, Joseph Smith taught (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976], 313). If we have faith and hope in true principles, they will bring with them their own compelling evidence.

Assurance, or evidence, sufficient to produce a lasting faith is based primarily on reason, authority, and experience, which together provide a firm and solid foundation. They give substance to our hope.