"Hope means seeing and acknowledging hard things, paying attention to everything long — all of it, good and bad — without denying anything. Learning to live with all that we feel, all that we think, all that we see, everything that happens — accepting all of it without pushing away pain or refusing to acknowledge suffering or clinging to pleasure — invites hope. Sick children talk about suffering because they see the territory clearly, and they know that hope manifests in the midst of pain. Hope doesn't erase suffering; it acknowledges it, nods and bumps fists, without putting suffering in charge. Hopefulness implies an awareness that the status quo is inadequate, that something needs to change."
After the Worst Day Ever
On how hope and suffering can co-exist, as long as suffering is not in charge.