Dear Cora and Magnolia,
I want to talk to you a bit about Hope. As we enter into this Easter, the Easter of 2020, I want you to know the profound power of Hope. Barack Obama once wrote a book titled The Audacity of Hope. I listened to it on audiobook when Cora was a baby. I remember one afternoon listening to it, crying, while scrubbing the floors in our home on Hudson while Cora was sleeping. I remember nothing of the book in this moment, and all politics aside, I want you to think about audacity and hope and what it means to combine those things.
Easter, to me, is the ultimate symbol of hope. Humankind might die and, in doing so, rise to defeat Death. Is that not our ultimate Hope? That through living Life to the end, we might overcome it?
You are tenth generation members of the Mormon Church. Let me say that again, "You, My Dears, are tenth generation benefactors of a restoration legacy that is the Mormon faith." A faith sown in personal relationship with the Savior - with the teachings of Jesus Christ. A faith built upon the belief that you can be personally connected with God, and that God will lead and guide you as you lean into a meaningful relationship with Him[Her]. A faith that Jesus Christ came to teach an example of Love so selfless that He would give His own life for us. And after being rejected to the cross, dying, being placed in a tomb, He would, on the third day, rise again, come forth to find the ones He loved, and share with them that he had overcome Death to be with them again. Death: that great mystery.
This is Hope.
And just like I have Hope, though no Knowledge, that a physical resurrection might be so, I have hope that this great faith lineage of which you are a part of might be the inclusive faith of my dreams. The faith I know it can be. There are so many layers to hope. If not a physical resurrection, a way for our spirits to live on.
But this is my ultimate Hope, the thing I know: my ultimate Hope is Love. I have Hope that Loving the least of these is the right way to live life. I have Hope that caring for and lifting one another and creating connection and building relationships is the way we make a better world. I have Hope that Seeing people is loving them.
Let Love be your legacy. Regardless of what is known or can never be known in this life, know that your Love will leave a lasting impact. Just as the love of Jesus, in his daily life, and in his final act, transformed the thought of what we could be to one another, know that your Love is transformative and powerful. Your Love is the ultimate example.
Be audacious. Be hopeful.
You are so loved, and I know that you are so full of love. Give it freely. Love is never wasted. Love is the one thing I know will out live you. The Love you give in this life will transcend this life. Your ultimate power will be the way you love others.
Live, Love, and Hope audaciously.
Let it be so. For you, for me, and for everyone.
With all of my heart,
Mama
I want to talk to you a bit about Hope. As we enter into this Easter, the Easter of 2020, I want you to know the profound power of Hope. Barack Obama once wrote a book titled The Audacity of Hope. I listened to it on audiobook when Cora was a baby. I remember one afternoon listening to it, crying, while scrubbing the floors in our home on Hudson while Cora was sleeping. I remember nothing of the book in this moment, and all politics aside, I want you to think about audacity and hope and what it means to combine those things.
Audacity: a willingness to take bold risks
Hope: grounds for believing something good may happen; a person or thing that may help or save someone.I want you to always have a sense of audacity. And I want you to always have hope.
Easter, to me, is the ultimate symbol of hope. Humankind might die and, in doing so, rise to defeat Death. Is that not our ultimate Hope? That through living Life to the end, we might overcome it?
You are tenth generation members of the Mormon Church. Let me say that again, "You, My Dears, are tenth generation benefactors of a restoration legacy that is the Mormon faith." A faith sown in personal relationship with the Savior - with the teachings of Jesus Christ. A faith built upon the belief that you can be personally connected with God, and that God will lead and guide you as you lean into a meaningful relationship with Him[Her]. A faith that Jesus Christ came to teach an example of Love so selfless that He would give His own life for us. And after being rejected to the cross, dying, being placed in a tomb, He would, on the third day, rise again, come forth to find the ones He loved, and share with them that he had overcome Death to be with them again. Death: that great mystery.
This is Hope.
And just like I have Hope, though no Knowledge, that a physical resurrection might be so, I have hope that this great faith lineage of which you are a part of might be the inclusive faith of my dreams. The faith I know it can be. There are so many layers to hope. If not a physical resurrection, a way for our spirits to live on.
But this is my ultimate Hope, the thing I know: my ultimate Hope is Love. I have Hope that Loving the least of these is the right way to live life. I have Hope that caring for and lifting one another and creating connection and building relationships is the way we make a better world. I have Hope that Seeing people is loving them.
When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.Sit with people; be with people; get to know people. Love people.
Let Love be your legacy. Regardless of what is known or can never be known in this life, know that your Love will leave a lasting impact. Just as the love of Jesus, in his daily life, and in his final act, transformed the thought of what we could be to one another, know that your Love is transformative and powerful. Your Love is the ultimate example.
Be audacious. Be hopeful.
You are so loved, and I know that you are so full of love. Give it freely. Love is never wasted. Love is the one thing I know will out live you. The Love you give in this life will transcend this life. Your ultimate power will be the way you love others.
Live, Love, and Hope audaciously.
Let it be so. For you, for me, and for everyone.
With all of my heart,
Mama
