Welcoming Uncertainty: A Thread to Hope in Troubling Times

Release your Attachment to Certainty to grow Hope

In today's world, many of us find ourselves craving certainty. We often believe that if we envision an outcome that we want, and try a little harder, things will turn out fine. But that's where we are trying to force life into our small screen. Next-level hope actually requires us to be less certain and more humble.

Embracing the Unknown

Welcoming uncertainty is crucial if we want to tap into a deeper, more resilient form of hope. Our tendency to cling to the familiar is understandable—after all, it feels known and attainable. It can be tempting to try to reduce life to what we believe we can reliably promise and deliver. Yet, true hope is born from the act of surrendering to what is, accepting it deeply, and allowing yourself to be in moment-to-moment way-finding. It asks us to let go of the pretense that it is possible to control our circumstances and trust that life has a flow of intelligence guiding us.

The Transformative Power of Surrender

When we think about hope, it’s essential to recognize that it is not just a passive waiting game but a dynamic process. It is entered through surrender. The quote from Cynthia Bourgeault in Mystical Hope, beautifully illustrates this point - hope “makes use of us rather than we of it.” This means that a fullness of hope allows us to trust in a greater intelligence underlying the miracle of life itself. In the courageous move to trust, we are filled with a quiet strength.

This fearless and trusting way of entering difficult circumstances is infectious. Whether you are a formal leader or not, bringing Hope beyond Hope can transform how those around you are working with their reactions to the situation. I think of Marion Dewar, a former mayor of Ottawa Canada, the city I live in. In 1975, without knowing how, but with a heart full of alarm and sorrow upon hearing of the Vietnamese boat people, she affected a whole city's capacity to open to uncertainty.

From the Historical Society of Ottawa: When a federal immigration official ... suggested that Canada was already doing a lot, having already welcomed to Canada 4,000 refugees out of an expanded 8,000-person quota, an exasperated Mayor Dewar is reported to have said “Fine. We’ll take the other 4,000....

By the time Project 4000 was wound down at the end of 1983, roughly 2000 refugees had been resettled in Ottawa under the private sponsorship program, with an additional 1,600 sponsored by the government under a matching program. (Other cities were challenged to follow Ottawa's example.) Nationally, 59,000 refugees found safety in Canada between 1979 and 1982, of which 34,000 were privately sponsored."

This is not to say that the journey is easy. In fact, it often requires deep introspection and a willingness to face uncomfortable truths, as did Marion Dewar when she allowed herself to open to the empathy and anguish being faced by people thousands of miles away. Yet, as we learn to align with what is rather than what we wish it to be, we find ourselves more available to respond and with more of our own selves available to act.

Grow your own capacity for Hope beyond Hope. Grow your clients' capacity to face the more intractable challenges of today.