While I walked to a meeting in New York this week, head full of the latest grief-inducing news, I came across the Hope sculpture. I wasn’t feeling very hopeful, and did not want to look like a tourist, but took a quick photo for good luck.

Later on, I noticed a gloved hand poking through near the “E” in the photo. It had never occurred to me that it’s someone’s job to polish up the Hope every day.

I bet there are days when this job seems like an honor, when the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the hope is burnished with love and care. And I bet there are days when this job is drudgery, and a quick swipe with a rag is all that’s possible.

Friends, let us give thanks for those who keep our hope shining.

And when we can, let’s return the favor.

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”  

– Vaclav Havel