Hope isn’t pretending the storm isn’t there. It’s knowing the sky has an owner.

Hope is often confused with denial, which is why serious people are suspicious of it. Pretending the weather is fine gets you nothing and insults what you are actually going through. What is described is different, staying in the storm with your eyes open and still holding that it is not unowned.

Name what is actually happening rather than softening it, and then name what you still believe about who is over it. Say both to God in the same prayer. You do not have to feel hopeful to hold on to hope.