Hoping, Willing, and Narrative Re-Envisioning

At first glance, hoping and willing do not seem to have much to do with one another. They evoke quite disparate turns of mind, in fact. Hope, which Aristotle called a "waking dream," is associated with imagination, daydreams, and wishful thinking. Willing, on the other hand, is aligned with practical effort, discipline, and acting against one's inclinations. Despite their lack of obvious affinity, in some communities-especially in the face of extreme suffering-the two acts may develop a close kinship. Hope as a moral task, even a narrative quest, can demand the arduous cultivation of the will. Hope is not necessarily something people easily acquire-not a matter of mere wishful thinking when life becomes difficult, but a difficult moral obligation that must be assumed as a way to confront pain and despair.