The Simpsons

Recap

The daily grind becomes too much for Homer who falls into a small depression. However, winning a new "mypad" at the school auction gives him something to enjoy...until it breaks after he falls into a manhole. Fearing that he's doomed to suffer from bad luck, Homer prays from some assistance from God. His prayers are seemingly answered when Ned points out tree whose sap suddenly bears the message "Hope." Homer invites the town to enjoy the miracle, and it rekindles his hope in life. However, Kent Brockman, determined to expose the tree as a sham, shows footage of a figure tracing the message on the tree with maple syrup. Homer is still comforted by the message and, in the end, we find out that it was a sleeping Homer who painted the message on the tree.