FAN TRIBUTES
By Jude Ling
“HOPE IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WORD, BUT IT
OFTEN SEEMS VERY FRAGILE”
DANCING THE DREAM
Michael Jackson
I must admit that my family has recently walked
through the fires of a bad stretch. Numbed in the
moment, we each pulled together the strength to
carry on. Angels educated in all manner of medicine sustained us as we spent days reeling, and,
ultimately gaining health. The man I have been
married to for over four decades manages to find
confidence in medical angels and summons such
hope throughout battles that I am constantly in
awe of him. He is able to see past the now and into
the future. He is and has been a real hero who rises above bad times while living in great hope.
“Confidence and hope are different things. Confidence is the inner conviction that we are equal to
whatever task is before us. It is the certainty that
we are bright enough, strong enough, powerful
enough to meet the challenge and best it. Hope,
on the other hand, is what sustains us when we
have little or no confidence left. At the end of a bad
stretch, hope-hope that the will of God will finally
prevail-is all that is left to sustain us. When it becomes clear that the things on which we have depended aren’t really dependable, hope must replace confidence, or nothing can replace confidence at all. Hope knows that whatever happens,
God lives. Hope expects that however bad it looks,
this moment will ultimately yield something
good. Hope says begin again. Winners may have
confidence, but real heroes-those who have seen
bad times and lived to rise above them-live in
hope.” Joan Chittister, IN MY OWN WORDS
“TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE IN THE
“You have to have that tragedy, that pain to pull
WORLD. TOGETHER WE CAN HELP TO STOP
from. That’s what makes a clown great. You
RACISM. TOGETHER WE CAN HELP TO STOP
can see he’s hurting behind the masquer-
PREJUDICE. WE CAN HELP THE WORLD LIVE
ade. He’s something else externally. I can play
WITHOUT FEAR. IT’S OUR ONLY HOPE, WITH-
off those moments, too. I’ve been through the
OUT HOPE WE ARE LOST.” Michael Jackson
fire many times.” Michael Jackson
Exeter June 14, 2002
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