Wish Vs Hope Series

Wish verse Hope!

Series: 4 letter words

Opening Video Illustration: Bluefishtv.com - “Making a wish for an orphanage.”

The girl in the story shares how he she came down with cancer twice and the second time she got cancer “Make a Wish Foundation” asked her what she wanted in life – a wish – her wish was her hope – her God given dream to build an orphanage in Africa. Make a wish gave her $2,600 toward her dream and God brought in the rest of the money needed and it totaled $60,000. Her Hope in the Lord brought her vision into a reality.

Thesis: In your life do you make wishes or do you place your hope in someone else? One leads to fairytales the other leads to Jesus Christ.

Introduction:

Tonight I want to explore the four letter words Wish verse Hope and help us see the difference between these two terms tonight. One is rooted in fairytales and kids stories and the other is rooted and taken from the life, death and resurrection of a real life person.

One brings a flood light into the midst of darkness while the other is just a small flickering match in the midst of darkness.

One brings encouragement in the midst of discouragement while the other only brings a glimpse of encouragement.

One brings a positive view of problems, trials, and tribulations while the other only lifts our burden for a brief moment in time.

One brings peace in the midst of pain and suffering while the other only brings a mindset of looking for a fairytale ending from pain.

One brings us through the pain to healing while the other teaches us to live in story land.

T.S. - So let’s explore the difference between a wish and genuine authentic hope.

I. What does it mean to make a wish?

a. Webster’s Dictionary describes wish this way: transitive verb

i. 1 : to have a desire for (as something unattainable)

2 : to give expression to as a wish : BID

3 a : to give form to (a wish) b : to express a wish for c : to request in the form of a wish : ORDER d : to desire (a person or thing) to be as specified

4 : to confer (something unwanted) on someone :

b. From wikpedia.com - A wish is a hope or desire for something. Fictionally, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.

i. In fiction a wish is a supernatural demand placed on the recipient's unlimited request. When it is the center of a tale, the wish is usually a template for a morality tale, "be careful what you wish for"; it can also be a small part of a tale, in which case it is often used as a plot device.

ii. A template for fictional wishes could be The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, specifically the tale of Aladdin, although in the tale of Aladdin the actual wishes were only part of the tale. Also, Aladdin's demands, while outrageous, were mainly variations on wealth (which is still often taken as the most common request).

iii. Classically the wish provider is often a spirit, Genie or similar entity, bound or constrained within a commonplace object (Aladdin's oil lamp for example) or a container closed with Solomon's seal. Releasing the entity from its constraint, usually by some simple action, allows the object's possessor to make a wish.

c. Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs and making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence or rationality.

i. Studies have consistently shown that holding all else equal, subjects will predict positive outcomes to be more likely than negative outcomes

d. A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity.

i. The Germanic and Celtic peoples considered springs and wells sacred places.[1] Sometimes the places were marked with wooden statues possibly of the god associated with the pool. Germanic peoples were known to throw the armour and weapons of defeated enemies into bogs and other pools of water as offerings to their gods.[2] [3]

ii. Water was seen to have healing powers and therefore wells became popular with many people drinking, bathing or just simply wishing over it. People believe that the guardians or dwellers of the well would grant them their wish if they paid a price. After uttering the wish, one would generally drop coins in the well. That wish would then be granted by the guardian or dweller, based upon how the coin would land at the bottom of the well. Traditionally coins were made of copper or silver and had biocidal properties which kept the water from going sour (bacteria produces various acidic compounds which affect the taste, notably Hydrogen sulfide). It was thus lucky to throw coins in the well.