The Anchor as a Symbol of Hope

"We have this hope as an anchor to the soul, firm and secure" Hebrews 6:19

Hope is my favorite virtue. Also, a couple months ago I fell in love with anchors. They have been using anchors on a lot of clothing items lately and also on bags, and I thought they were so cute and bought myself a necklace. Later, I went to James Avery, a silver jewelry store and I saw that they were selling an anchor cross. The vendor explained that the anchor was a symbol of hope and he recited Hebrews 6:19. I thought that was extremely cool and my love for anchors grew. I didn't really understand the bible verse completely, so I decided to do a little bit of research. I love what I discovered. 

So why are anchors used as a symbol of hope?

Anchors are heavy objects attached to a rope or chain used to secure a ship in a particular place. Used as a verb, to anchor means to secure something firmly in position or to provide with a firm basis or foundation. Because of the great importance in navigation, the anchor was regarded a symbol of safety because it would prevent the boat from drifting due to wind or current. It became the captain's last resort when the boat was close to sinking. 

The anchor then became a key Christian symbol during the period of Roman persecution. Anchors would be used instead of crosses in the epitaphs of the believers' tombs showing the hope Christians felt in their anticipation of heaven.

For that reason, anchors serve as a symbol of safety, a symbol of hope in the future. Just as anchors prevent ships from drifting away due to wind or current and cast unto the sand. As they hold a ship securely, so hope can keep our soul at rest, safe as if anchored in the harbor. Even in the midst of suffering, distress, oppression, or deep sorrow, it remains firm. It provides safety and sustains us. 

About hope

Hope is a yearning with expectation or anticipation. Used as a noun, it is to aspire, desire, wish, aim, goal, and plan. But to "have hope" means to want something desperately to happen. To expect, anticipate, and look for something. What is that something we expect and anticipate? Jesus. 

Hope in Christ

Christ is the unfailing hope. If Christ is hope, then He is our anchor. We are safe and secure by him. Trust Him and love him during beautiful and happy times and also and let Him take care of you in difficult times. If you believe in Him, you will have eternal life. That eternal life is what we are all searching for. That unending happiness by being surrounded by our father. I hope for that! 

Hope in your daily life

That hope in Christ is what drives my every action.We should have hope in everything you do. Have hope that better days are coming. Have hope in people, and especially have hope in yourself. If you don't believe that your work and your life will make a difference, that you can make tomorrow better for someone, your life will begin to lose meaning. 

I got this anchor-cross necklace at James Avery yesterday. I had wanted it for a really long time but finally decided to get it since I'm going to be traveling to so many different places, I need a reminder of Christ and hope. I need Him to be my guide as I travel across the waters.

Also, just a reminder that if you are going through a difficult time in your life right now or you are struggling with something, it is very difficult to have hope. If that is the case, I encourage you to pray to Jesus and ask him for a renewed hope and strength to carry on. I believe in you, you can get through it! Never give up! Always have hope because pain ends. 

Whatever You Are, Be a Good One.

I once had a teacher who said that she was sad and unhappy with her career choice because if she would have chosen to become a doctor instead of being an economics teacher, she would be saving lives daily. I told her that there are a lot of amazing doctors out there but we really needed an amazing teacher like her. The truth is that she actually made an impact on a lot of her students' lives because she was extremely kind and caring and was always encouraging others. 

It doesn't matter if you are a doctor, a teacher, a mother, a daughter, an uncle, a pizza-delivery man, a salesperson, or a janitor. Whatever you are, be a good one. Whether your vocation is to get married or enter the religious life or be single, you should strive to be the best person you can be every day. If you are a student, your vocation at the moment is to be a good student. If you struggle with studying or doing assignments, it's a good idea to offer them up to Christ. Tell him: "Since you died for me, I'm going to rock these next 20 pages of Aristotle!" You can offer each page you do as a prayer. You can offer Him every hamburger you cook or every hole that you dig as a prayer. You can do that with whatever you are doing such as your job, driving, cooking, doing laundry, or whatever you think is unpleasant or a hassle to do. 

I work at a hamburger restaurant on the weekends, and the main cook is such an incredible person because He tries to be the best hamburger cook he can be in the world. He comes to work with a smile  and puts all his energy into what he is doing. He has accepted the fact that this is the job that God wants him to do, so he wants to do it to the best of his abilities. I think we should all strive to be like him. Imagine waking up each day and doing whatever it is we have to do with joy and purpose. We could change the way everyone does things and slowly change the world!

We are all God's children, so we should strive to be good ones. Our main goal in life should be to get to heaven, and nothing else. Getting to heaven is more important than any test, any job offer, any trip, or opportunity. If anything we do contradicts what we believe in, we should put aside, for that takes away our goodness.

That teacher that I had was better than any Doctor that I have ever met, and it is such a shame that she never realized that. That is why I believe we should fill up everyone around us with words of affirmation. You have no idea how much a little pick-me-up can mean to someone. It can help them figure out that they are doing alright, that they should keep on going and that whatever they are doing  is a light to the world.

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Day 11 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- Daniela. I had speech class with her sophomore year of high school. She was really sweet and a good friend. She moved to Houston, Puerto Rico, and is now ding her last year of high school in California. I messaged her on facebook to ask how she was doing and she was glad to hear from me and told me that these past two years have actually been extremely hard for her because she feel like she doesn't fit in with anyone and she just doesn't have many friends. I was really glad I got her name because I got to pray for her and do everything for her today. She will be moving to Mexico next year, so I wish her luck on all her endeavors.
• 'Good Deed a Day'- I visited my friend who just had surgery at her house and brought her a little stuffed angel and a card.
• Positive experience of the day- I worked for 12 hours at the restaurant and I met some pretty cool people. A guy asked if he could sit next to me while I was on break. I said sure! He talked about how he wanted to become a Christian rapper because he wanted to be  positive influence on the youth of today. He asked me if I was religious, and when I said I was Catholic, he asked me if I could explain to him our beliefs on the Eucharist and on 'worshiping' Mary and the Saints. I explained to him that we believed that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus and so does the wine, and also explained how we don't worship Mary or the saints, but how we venerate them and look up to them for guidance in our lives. He said.. "Oh that's nice to know. I don't believe that, but I get your point of view." It was really nice to be able to have a civil conversation like that. He was a really nice guy. 
• 3 things I am grateful for-

          1. Kind people

          2. The business is doing better.

          3. Good Books.

• Prayer intentions- My friend Daniela, those who are unhappy, those who have lost a loved one recently.

This Is Just The Beggining

I recently heard that lent is the time to 'get on track spiritually' and well, I am pretty behind,
and have so much to catch up on.

As I was thinking of something to give up this lent, all I could think of was giving up food, because that's what I struggle with the most. Then I realized that giving up food was more like a diet plan, and it would only benefit me and no one else.  So I started to think of other things I could do this lent that would improve my relationship with Christ, benefit others, and myself.

So this is what I came up with... Lenten Promise 2014 (12 steps to becoming a better person.)

1. Do morning and night prayers
  -Do an examination of conscience every night and listen to a praise and worship song and reflect on it.
2. Go to daily mass (My campus offers it several times a day!)
  -If it is absolutely not possible to go to mass, pray the rosary.
3. Do a "good deed a day" journal.
 -I recently purchased a journal that has 365 good deeds to accomplish, so I will be doing those every day, and reflecting about it at the end of the day.
4. Drink more water
 - I never drink water even after having kidney stones 3 times. I have to get better at this NOW.
5. Downsize my portion size at lunch and diner to stay a little bit hungry after each meal.
6. No candy or dessert.
7. Say: "I just want you to be happy" in my mind to every every person I see or talk to.
8. Smile more
 - This on is especially hard for me. I just can't do it, it doesn't feel natural to me, but everyone points it out. I am going to try really hard!
9. Do the: how to be happier checklist by Shawn Achor (I will be posting this in full later, It is amazing!)
10. 'Live for others Jar'
 - I am SO excited about this one! I came up the idea to live for others and sacrifice everything I do in the day for them. I went through my whole facebook friend list (1,500 people), my phone contacts, and just everyone I have ever met in my life, I wrote their names down on a piece of paper, cut them up,  and put them in a jar. Every day, I will:
  A. Pick a name out of the jar with my eyes closed
  B. Sacrifice everything I do that day for God and for that person.
  C. Pray for them.
  D. Message them on facebook/text/call with words of encouragement or something to make them smile.
  E. If the person I pick out happens to live on campus or close to me, I will anonymously do a good thing for them. 
  F. If I have ever had a conflict with that person, I should love them, forgive the, and pray for them even harder.
  G. I will then post about my experience with that person on this blog every day of lent.
11. Post all my experiences and reflections on this blog
12. LOVE MORE

I am so excited to start on this journey and see where this project takes me.