Hope Part 4

 

But (hope) is the necessary antidote to the poison of our culture’s myth of perfectibility. We become too afraid to say the obvious: that things are not always getting better. And this fact should make us kinder to each other. As temporary creatures made of the same perishable material, we should see in each other fellow pilgrims headed in the same direction, worthy of our concern, people with whom we should be more patient, slower to anger, quicker to help. How different are we really when we consider our lives and struggles and weaknesses? ~ Kate Bowler

 

Things are not always getting better…and this should make us kinder to each other.

 

I long for a world that accepts and affirms this truth not just in our minds but in our lives.  I long for a world where our struggles are not hidden in the shadows or under masks of perfectionism but shared with others ~ not as problems to be solved but as a pathway to our connectedness.  I long for a world where we stop drinking the poison of violence, hatred, grief unprocessed/pushed down, winners and losers, greed as the “gospels” and stories that define and confine our souls. 

 

And, hope, is the antidote from the well/fountain/water of God’s presence. 

 

Yesterday, I invited you to exercise the muscle of hope.  As with any exercise, it is never one and done.  I can’t just walk one mile one day and say, “Yup, healthy now for the rest of my life.  Glad that is finished.”  I continue to exercise.  I can’t just read one book and say, “Yup, got life all figured out.”  I continue to keep learning and growing.  I can’t just say, “I hoped yesterday so I am all good now.”  Hope is continual invitation.  To be sure, there are days, I just don’t wanna!  I want to pull the covers over my head to forget about the world.  And there are days when I may need to borrow hope, like a cup of sugar, from someone.  And there are days I need to lend hope to others and hold their hand in the journey to Bethlehem. 

 

Do you have the energy for hope today?

Do you feel hope stirring and swirling ~ where and when?

Do you long for hope to be a light to guide you today ~ how and with who?

What is your relationship right now with hope?  Maybe you are on a break or in a rocky time trying to live hope.  Hold that, explore that, and talk with hope.