A Hope and a Prayer

When I returned to Canada after living in Jerusalem, I moved to Montreal.

I found a job teaching English to French-speaking soldiers. But the school where I taught wasn’t in Montreal. It was located in a smaller city, a 45-minute drive away.

Other teachers who taught with me lived in Montreal, so we car-pooled. But that meant taking a bus or subway to the driver’s neighborhood, adding another half hour to the commute each way.

I enjoyed living in downtown Montreal, and didn’t want to move...

Perhaps I needed a car...

At the same time, I had almost no savings and I didn’t want to get into debt... A car seemed like an impossible dream!

Somewhat discouraged, I came across a self-help article that talked of envisioning one’s desires, perhaps by creating a collage - or taking it a step further by buying  something that would support the dream...

But what...?!

I still remember walking through a department store in downtown Montreal and noticing a display of KEY CHAINS...

That’s it! I’ll buy a key chain for the car I was hoping to own someday... 

For many long months, I’d look at the key chain whenever I felt discouraged... In some beautiful, inexplicable way, it gave me hope.

I eventually did get a car - a small yellow Honda Civic. (Honda Civics were  smaller in those days!) And - equally miraculously - I learned to confidently manoeuvre Montreal’s busy, circuitous expressways, something I’m not sure I’d like to do now.

But the point of remembering all this is - in part - to challenge myself again...

What do I want to accomplish now? And what small token of hope could encourage me on...?