Advent with Pressed Olives
Day 6
HOPE
What comes to mind when you think of the word, hope? Does it feel soft and delicate like it could be lost in any second? Or is it something with grit and tenacity?
Here’s a quote that I found online the other day that describes how I see hope.
"People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go."
From last Sunday's bulletin, a quote by Matthew @CrowsFault.
As we enter into the season of waiting, frequently called advent, that comes before Christmas we wait with Hope It’s easy for us to know what’s coming because we’ve celebrated this season before. Mary and Joseph had no idea what was really coming, and neither did the world.
Hope requires us to participate. It requires our involvement. One of my favorite quotes about hope is from Brené Brown.
“Hope is a function of struggle.”
Without a struggle, there’s no need for hope.
The scriptures that I read this week that fit along with this theme are below.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
Romans 5:3-4 NLT
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”
Jeremiah 17:7 NLT
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
Lamentations 3:22-24 NLT
My hope is active, moving, stubborn, and resilient. It holds on when all the odds are not in my favor.
What are you hoping for still? What has God promised that still has yet to come?
The words from O Holy Night resound in my mind today.
“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices”
Hope has blood on her knuckles and just spat out a tooth! Amen. Hope is no easy feat. It’s our fight.