Hope is the Wolf

A note about hope

Jan 26, 2024

Illustration by Sam Hubbard. Follow Sam on Instagram.

Listen to this post. Episode 99 of The Walk A Little Slower Podcast

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What is hope?
Poet Emily Dickinson says, “hope is the thing with feathers” and I think that’s beautiful, but I had to read the whole poem to understand what she meant.

I get it now.

And she’s right.

But then I heard this story.

In the early 1900’s the last wolf was removed from Yellowstone National Park.

Wolves were seen as the enemy, a danger, a threat.

By the late 1920’s, a few years after the wolves were banished from Yellowstone, officials noticed something wasn’t right about the park.
Things had changed and not for the better.

Certain species of vegetation were missing.
There was an overpopulation of elk.

There was erosion and invasive growth.
The ecosystem seemed to be out of balance.

In 1995 wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park.

And this is where it gets interesting.

The ecosystem that was barren was saved.
There were ecological changes and the return of trees like cottonwoods, aspens, and willows.
The behavior of elk changed.
The wolves, just by being wolves, even altered rivers themselves which then saw an increase in the population of insects, beavers, fish, and other animals.
Wolves revitalized a dying land.
By being who God created them to be they sparked a ripple effect of hope.

What does hope do?

Hope goes into the unknown, it moves in the community, and here is what it does:
Hope changes everything.
It creates a thriving home, a place of welcome and life.
Over time Hope alters the small things and we know that the small things are the big things.

Hope is not soft.
Hope is not fragile.
Hope is not shy.
Hope is resilient.
Hope is fierce.
Hope revives.
Hope restores.
Hope renews.

Hope might be “the thing with feathers,” but to me, Hope is the thing with four legs that prowls through the park and howls into the night.

Hope is the wolf.

And Hope reminds us that even when it feels like the end a new beginning is coming around once again.

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