Hope

Hope.

Whether you believe I'm right or wrong, with my beliefs, life is meaningless without hope. And even if we don't all believe in the same thing going through life believing this is all there is, is a sense of hopelessness. We all have different faiths and beliefs but without some sense of Hope life is empty.

The bible says, "Tomorrow is not promised..." but we are given something else to hope for even if it's not a tomorrow.

So my question to you is what's hope for you? What keeps you going each day when the alarm or the sun wakes you for another day?

For me, it's knowing God loves me so much he couldn't spend eternity without me so He sent His son to pay the price for me. My hope is that this isn't the end and after all of this is something greater; something so magnificent that trying to wrap my head around it all is impossible, but I will understand it one day. Life shouldn't be empty. And no matter what I believe or what you believe too many times we try to fill it with stuff that won't fill that hole: drugs, sex, TV, cars, girl/boyfriends, game consoles, sports, etc. So what really makes you want to live your life so that way when you look back you can say that you lived a damn good life?

I can't tell you what to do, we all figure out our own ways to cope with what we call the world, but a sense of hope for something is powerful and life is a gift. As cheesy as that sounds it is and we shouldn't waste it. Do me a favor, don't be like Brian. Don't have a backup plan that involves taking yourself out of this world; I've seen the devastation of suicide, there is always someone even if you don't think so. Forget a backup, a friend of mine once said, "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." That’s right and it’s not right that it is.

I don’t know, Family Guy when I was watching it with my sister on Adult Swim the other night, got all deep on me and for me I believe Brian felt hopeless because he doesn't have the faith I do—for anyone who watches the show they know Brian is an atheist. But even those who don't believe in what I do have some pretty damn good source of hope. Look, what I'm trying to say is for those that are reading I'm hoping you love your life and are living it. Whether I know you or not I hate to think one of you has a safety deposit box with a gun and some wine just waiting to end it all when it becomes too much. Find something and my inbox if you want to know what I have to say about Christ it is always open if you want to talk.

Sorry for the change in pace, but what is the media if it doesn't drop some serious knowledge on you every now and then like its intention was in the first place. Writing was to teach and I'm teaching you something that we should all know about but don't. We need something that anchors us when this world becomes too much. What are you holding onto? That's all I want to know. Until next time, According to Michael III, thank you Family Guy for being serious for once. It gave me a chance to write this.

—Michael III