Rekindling Hope with Dr. Dan Allender, Dr. J. Derek McNeil, and Shauna Gauthier

In this season, many of us are carrying more than we expected—grief, fatigue, and questions that don’t have easy answers. In a world shaken by global crises and fractured by personal pain, we know that hope can feel distant, even naïve.

And yet, we still reach for it.

At the Allender Center, we believe hope is not blind optimism or shallow cheer. It’s a posture of courage in the face of suffering. It’s something forged—not found—through faith, community, and connection.

We want to share with you a recorded conversation from nearly a year ago between Dr. Dan Allender, Dr. J. Derek McNeil, and Shauna Gauthier from The Seattle School. This conversation is an invitation to sit with the complexity of hope—what it looks like in real life, not just in theory.

In one sense, hope is so profoundly inevitable that if we were simply to honor the fact that we’re all in the middle of death… yet life keeps calling us to the question of: Will we be alive? Will we allow our hope to grow in the wild, risky, defiant openness to imagine from the future what is possible and present today? And really, what I’m reflecting is the Lord’s Prayer: ‘On earth as it is in Heaven.’” -Dr. Dan Allender

We invite you to take an hour to watch. Reflect. As you listen, may you find space to be honest about your own weariness—and to remember that hope is not something we muster on our own. True hope is a gift, rooted in the character of our Creator—who sees, who grieves with us, and who is making all things new.

Please note that this conversation includes a personal story of mental health, suicide, and loss. Listener discretion is advised.