I posted this in another thread but it didn't really fit with where the conversation was going, so I'm starting a new thread on it. Below is the hope I feel we all now have. Feel free to share your hopes, as well.
What hope do we have?
We have hope that we will make today better than yesterday.
We have hope that those we love will feel our love today, tomorrow, and every day of our lives.
We have hope that we will create joy, peace, love, and good will in ourselves and others, leaving the world of our children and grandchildren a better one than it has ever been.
We have hope that our lives NOW, TODAY, will be lived freely, without psychological coercion and manipulation from others who wish to control us.
We have hope that what we do each day will REALLY help others, not simply convince them to put all of life's challenges on the "wait on Jehovah" shelf where nothing is ever done to help them.
We have hope that those we love will one day be free from the oppression of high-control religious cults and the concept of divine authority they are captive to.
We have hope that with continued charity, philanthropy, and active public and private support, medical care will continue advancing and that each of us may live a long and fulfilled life.
We have hope that crime will continue the same rapid decreases we have seen over the last two decades and that more and more people will learn to share with one another.
We have hope that fewer people will feel the need for mood-altering drugs, whether legal or otherwise, because their life will be more joyful and fulfilling.
We have THE SAME HOPES for the future we have always had but with just a couple key differences. First, WE ARE THE ONES creating this future FOR OURSELVES and our POSTERITY; no sky-daddy is going to clean up our messes, it's time to get to work. Two, our time as individuals is finite; whether 80, 90, or 100+ years, our life's work MUST BE passed on to another generation at some point because we ARE NOT living forever.
I can't imagine ever returning to the helpless hopelessness of Watchtower doctrine, not when there's real work to be done.