A person I would have enjoyed getting to know recently died. Her passing came in the course of doing what she loved, so there are ways one can look at the tragedy with a sense of appreciation. The light and hope she created by living will be with us as long as we remember. I am struck by the recurring phrase that has been with me since the first tragedy I can remember in childhood. I think it was my grandfather; yet the words have often repeated themselves in the tragedies since so I am not sure. The simple phrase with was “I have this hope”.
Many have asked me what I write a daily whisper. I believe Life is trying to teach us in every moment of our lives. The message I hear always come back to the center – hope is alive in you. Hope lives. Hope makes a difference. Hope is a gift God leaves with us in times a despair, sorrow, and uncertainty. In Hope we see and believe in what will come.
Hope exists in the reality of many different words. I often use the words grace, mercy, and compassion as descriptions of Hope. I believe in the link because each finds its reality in a God of love and inclusiveness. In a Christian context, another word that anchors this description is resurrection. In a reference to a moment where evil seemed to win, when everything appeared to be forever lost, a singular even occurred that changed our lives forever. Regardless of our awareness of the details, the forces of Good had a new foundation.
One man answered the question of his life by saying “It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live.” (1 Corinthians 15.32) Using another word anchored in the same source, I would say it is Hope.
You and I can be the God of Compassion’s eyes, hands, and voice. As painful as life is, we have a Spirit living within us that gives us a reason to reach for more.
