It is a direct statement. There is no word in that simple phrase that doesn’t push you on to the period. This is hope. Three words that make you instantly picture something. Images of what you believe hope is, and what hope isn’t. It is a phrase that conjures up contradictions. It almost dares you to say this isn’t hope. It’s a battle cry, and yet, it’s also a whispered plea.

Hope is such a vague thing. What is hope? Can you quantify it? Is it a feeling? Is it fact? These are good questions, and you know what, we don’t have all the good answers. We’re no different than you. We wake up and struggle through each and every day; we stretch our money, we make mistakes, just like you. Our addictions are no different than yours, our selfish desires and lustful actions mirror yours to a tee. We smile at life’s simple pleasures just like you, and when we’re happy, our laugh sounds a lot like yours. Only facial features and t-shirt sizes determine our difference. However, what we do have is what hope means to us. We believe hope is the desire, the belief, that the next step on the road of life can be better than the last. Hope is what keeps us from withering up and dying. It is the broken dream that has been swept away and been replaced by a new one. It is the broken bone that can mend. It is the lesson learned. It is the lessons yet to be learned. It is the desire to keep moving forward, if for no other reason, than it beats standing still. It is the realization that life is bigger than the problems, hurts, struggles, and confusions that seem like they are going to crush us from the moment we wake up every morning. This is hope.

Look to the stars and realize that we are small, that the world is old, and we are young. Find hope in that. This is hope is a company that is more like a mantra. It is a battle cry and a prayer. It is for the atheist and the believer. It is for the young and the old. Hope is for every person of every race, gender, religion, it is for the rich and it is for the poor. No one should be denied hope. We all need hope. We all have hope. We all are hope. What is hope?

This is hope.