Last Updated on December 14, 2017
“Eternal”, of course, is the ending and attachment that most would declare if asked to fill in the blank. How many of us know of the origin of the statement, what it means, from whence it comes (yes, yes, a Google search is only one finger button away)? It is often an afterthought – a “throw-away” line that one scatters about in response to someone else’s statement about “hoping to do X” or having “hope that X will happen”.
The reactionary response that is commonly stated is, “Well, of course hope springs eternal.” The origin of the saying comes from Alexander Pope’s work, “An Essay on Man”, where he wrote:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest.
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
What was he referring to? It could be interpreted in many ways – of a reference to a life hereafter and the reason for living, struggling and being tormented in this life, with a view towards an eternal reward; or, that so long as there is hope, things will change for the better if you just stick around long enough.
Without hope, the devastation of life’s turmoil may never allow for a person to get beyond this day; it is with hope that is kept in the human breast that the eternal promise of a better tomorrow becomes possible; for, otherwise there is just fatalism to look forward to, or as Pope stated, a state of existence where “Man never is”.
The word-pictures evoked from Pope’s work are beautifully put, and provide images that allows for multiple interpretations. The word “springs” is a carefully chosen word, for it gives the idea both of calm (as in the tranquility of a running spring) as well as a jump forward (as in “spring forward”), and thus establishes multiple meanings when tied to the reference point of “hope”.
Hope, ultimately, is the ingredient that allows for life to live for a future yet undetermined and yet to be defined. That is what is important for Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition is beginning to prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of the Federal or Postal job. For, what other hope is there than Federal Disability Retirement benefits?
As the ongoing medical condition and the deteriorating aspect of the medical condition begins to squeeze out any hope left; and the impact it is having on one’s career and future starts to question the viability of any hope to be had; it is hope from X to Y – i.e., a future with a difference – that allows for hope to foster and thrive.
That is why, for the Federal or Postal employee who recognizes that hope in continuing in one’s job is no longer a reality, it becomes important to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, precisely because hope springs eternal.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire