Saturday, April 03, 2010

The prospect of hope

What a thing to say: The prospect of hope. Hope is so forward looking, and to have a prospect of hope is, the way I look at it, all I can do. It is sort of like mining for hope, being a prospector for a cherished good. Now let's see. "Hope" where have I heard that before? Sounds similar to "Nope." I really don't want to go there. Hope is positive. Nope is negative. I guess I have to consult my trusty dictionary again to put me in place.

And here it is. Hope according to the The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots derives from keu-² meaning "to bend" whence "a round or hollow object." So they are trying to tell me that when you are on bent knees you are in a state of Hope? Well I guess that would be something like praying. I can see that. But looking at it that way then really means that the word Hope comes from a state of despair as in having been brought down to your knees.

I didn't expect that. Hope is supposed to be a good feeling, something that makes you look up. How's that? Looking up? Oh, yea, you can only look up when you are down.

I guess I'll stop prospecting for Hope. Since I am not down, I can't have any Hope. I am not on bent knees. Still, I would like the idea of Hope to be more like a Cup of Kindness. Interesting, the word Cup is derived from keu-² as well, and hive, and cube, and cupola, and incubate, and at the end of the dictionary entry there is one from Middle Dutch, and there it means "one who squats" or peddler. Nope, I can't win.

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