Hope

Hope is such a deceptively easy word, isn’t it? We think we know what it means. We’re convinced that we have our brains wrapped around it. Politicians like the word, as do pastors. It’s catnip for voters and an easy mark for preachers. It’s shorthand for something we think we all agree upon.

But real hope knows that it’s fragile. And so are we. Real hope has its hands dirty, but also knows where the soap is.

Hope means that no matter how hard you work, no matter how many hours you put into God’s mission, no matter what you’ve built for God’s kingdom, eventually, your muscles will ache, your hands will weaken, your eyes will droop, your memory will fade, your breathing will soften, and your heart will stop. And yet, there will still be more work left to do. Yet, we hope that what we have spent our lives doing will live on after us.

And it does. Because in the labour, prayers and love we offer others, we bring God’s future to our lives today.

Loving God, help us live our hope in all that we do. Amen. — KP