January 28, 2019
HOPE
HOPE is good word--related to all sorts of "expectant" words, like anticipation, desire, optimism, trust, promise, and even dream--but it is not an easy word. We seldom talk much about HOPE when everything is going well. HOPE, we claim, springs eternal. When times are tough, we HOPE for the best. When they are tougher, we HOPE against HOPE.
One of the Old Testament words for HOPE is tiqvah: literally, "attached by a cord." Maybe HOPE is that unseen force which keeps us connected to all that is good, right, just, peaceful, whole, and loving in the world--even when all of that seems far away.
As Christians, all of that good stuff is rooted in Jesus. Frederick Buechner sums it up like this (and I cannot do better):
For Christians, HOPE is ultimately HOPE IN CHRIST:
HOPE
HOPE is good word--related to all sorts of "expectant" words, like anticipation, desire, optimism, trust, promise, and even dream--but it is not an easy word. We seldom talk much about HOPE when everything is going well. HOPE, we claim, springs eternal. When times are tough, we HOPE for the best. When they are tougher, we HOPE against HOPE.
One of the Old Testament words for HOPE is tiqvah: literally, "attached by a cord." Maybe HOPE is that unseen force which keeps us connected to all that is good, right, just, peaceful, whole, and loving in the world--even when all of that seems far away.
As Christians, all of that good stuff is rooted in Jesus. Frederick Buechner sums it up like this (and I cannot do better):
For Christians, HOPE is ultimately HOPE IN CHRIST:
- The HOPE that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming he is.
- The HOPE that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them.
- The HOPE that in him and through him all of us stand a chance at somehow conquering them too.
- The HOPE that at some unforeseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in his wings.