Hope for the best...

Is that a plan? If someone says to you, “Let’s hope for the best.” Does that inspire you? Hope is a feeling that motivates us to change. When I saw the Star Wars movie, “Rogue One”, for the first time in theatres on Christmas Day in 2017, I was awestruck. I did not see that coming. If you haven’t seen Rogue One, be prepared, this could be a spoiler alert. The storyline absorbed me and I never once asked the question, “Where is this going?” Then suddenly, I was transported back to when I was 8 years old seeing Star Wars for the first time. At 52 years old, I felt like a child, enthralled by the on-screen vision of Princess Leia. Her message was hope. At eight years old, I was excited for the future!

Emergency Services

Firefighters are in sales. Many simply think their jobs are to extinguish fires and rescue people. Their true callings are much deeper than those simple terms. What do they sell? Hope.

You might think that the reason a siren is on the fire truck is to make traffic move. You have to be on the receiving end of an emergency before you realize the true purpose of that wail in the night. A siren is meant to tell victims and patients that help is on the way. Sirens give hope.

We teach the general public about fire extinguishers. We have a gas-fired prop that gives people a target, then we let them use an actual extinguisher to put the fire out. The situation is controlled and meant to simulate a trash can on fire. Research shows that if a person practices an activity just once, they will be able to perform better in a real situation. We give people the hope that they can save their home or office or loved ones.

When we go into classrooms full of eager young second-grade children, we ask the question, “Who wants to be a firefighter?” All of their hands go up. In an auditorium of 100 children, there are 200 hands eagerly waving that they want to be firefighters. The reality is that only 2 will actually do anything with the fire service (volunteer or otherwise). But at the moment, in an auditorium full of screaming seven-year-olds, they are ALL hopeful about their futures.

Life Application

Hope encourages us. Hope moves us. Hope changes our lives.