Hope

 Hope is not evidence-based.  Faith is.  You believe because of what you have heard and seen.  You might say you have never seen God but believe.  This belief is based on what you have heard and seen in others, such as parents, friends, rituals, preachers, readings.  You pick up on their experience.  In Recovery programs you have faith because of what you have seen in others.  Could this be for me too?  Could I get sober like these people?  You have no evidence that you can get sober because you have never been sober, only dry.  This is where hope comes in.  Hope is what keeps us all going forward.  I keep hoping I will be a good priest.  I have seen it in other priests and hope that if I do what they do, I have a chance.