The Gift of a Whisper

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of a Whisper

“Hope is a whisper in a world that shouts.  But listen for it.  Listen for it.  Listen for it.”

Liz Newman

Sometimes whispers are so very hard to hear. 

In a world full of clanging noises. 

The whisper almost disappears. 

Quiet your mind, slow your steps.

Take a moment of sweet rest. 

Listen for the whisper, let it speak to your mind and heart. 

Give thanks for a new morning, the dawn, the dew, the new day, and a new start.

That whisper is waiting, will you take the time and let the whisper convey. 

There is hope, there is goodness, and there is wonder in the smallest things. 

Listen to the whisper.  

It will open doors; just you wait and see.

Growing up in the South, we learned to sing by the hymnal. Harmony and melody blend together like a beautiful vocal symphony.  One particular hymn that comes to mind is a song called “Whispering Hope.” I have a particularly fond memory of the church singing this song acappella. No instruments were played, only voices were raised. It was almost as if it were the speech of angels.  Some of the lyrics include: Whispering Hope, how I welcome thy voice, making my heart in sorrow rejoice.”  Another line talks about how, through the dust and twilight, the whispering hope comes through like a shining star. When the night is so dark and things look so very bleak, the break of the new day is a whispering hope.  Hope is a word that is not used a often these days. We hear a lot of other words that really do not plant the seeds of hope.  Alexander Pope wrote in a work titled: An Essay on Man that “Hope springs eternal in the human breast; man never is but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy, and confin’d rests and expatiates in a life to come.” Expatiate means to move about freely or at will.  It also means to speak or write at length or in detail.  If hope expatiates through the human heart and soul that means we are built to hope within us.  What are we without the whisper of hope? Hopeless, in despair, without a reason to go on. What has been proven over many, many years is the power of the human spirit. The power of hope. One of the most interesting traits of our Army boys and Army folks in general is that they call each other “brother.” They are not related, yet their experience in the Army heightens their awareness of how they are family both on and off the battlefield. One of my sons is keenly interested in history. Roman history, Greek history—you name it. One day he asked me to watch Band of Brothers with him. It is a series about Easy Company, which operated during World War II. This company landed in Germany on D Day.  To think that these folks went into harm’s way with so much bravery and hope baffles me. Many of the planes carrying soldiers were shot down before even making it to Germany. Young souls died to defend freedom.  Richard Winters commanded Easy Company not because he wanted to but because his commander was killed on the way to D-Day.  Soldiers parachuted from the sky in the dead of night. On D-Day, over two million men dropped down to fight. Many were lost, and the casualties were significant. More than fifty four thousand vehicles were used in this operation. Seven thousand ships were used on that day alone. All in the name of hope and endurance. After Richard Winters landed, he jumped right into the role of leadership. The small group of soldiers made their way to reconnect with their companies.  He did not give up hope. That very day, he led thirteen soldiers to take out a battery of soldiers (about one hundred to two hundred soldiers) to help the allied forces. In one battle, he was shot in the leg but kept going. In another battle, he had thirty five men on his side. The Germans had three hundred. Richard Winters led the men to battle. He was eventually promoted to major and continued to serve in the war. He wrote in his memoir that he was not the leader who kept everyone together. It was the band of brothers that kept the cohesion together. Many words can be attributed to these brave souls. One of them must certainly hope. That eternal hope that arose to keep them fighting, surviving, and moving towards a goal. The term “brother” or “sister” is hope. That is why you hear other folks use that phrase. Thank goodness we are not in a war zone. We are just navigating through life. Let the lessons of those who went before us teach us to hope to find that whisper that can keep you going when you are fighting your personal wars in your life. In the words of the unknown quote, “So far you have survived one hundred percent of your bad days. You’re doing great.” Find the whisper of hope.

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Source:Nytimes.com; hymns.com