Hope

The word for the first week of Advent is "hope." We begin this wonderful season in hope, anticipating the coming of Jesus, the one who is the hope of the world. It's an appropriate way to begin, because by the time we get to the end of the calendar year, it seems hard to find places where there is hope. Suicides spike at this time of year because many are joyful and others are just...not. Family and friends who are gone leave people lonely. Where is hope?

Hope is found in the eyes of a child, anticipating what will be under the tree in just a few days.

Hope is found in a young couple, deeply in love, pledging all of their days to each other.

Hope is found in the eyes and the smiles and the giggles of a newborn baby.

Hope is found in a flower that blooms despite the oncoming cold weather. For some reason, we had a flower spring up, voluntarily, in the middle of November. I thought it would be dead shortly, and yet as it got cold, it stubbornly bloomed. I didn't have the heart to tell the flower it was blooming in the wrong season! It was right outside of our front door, and brought sunshine to a cold day.

Hope is found in the caring gestures of a friend who stops by for coffee or conversation. Hope is found when those visits come at just the time you need it.

Hope is found in a graveyard. I have two funerals scheduled for this week, back to back days. For some, that sounds dismal for the beginning of the Advent/Christmas season. For me, there is no better way to convey and offer hope. Standing by a casket, standing at the graveside, I get the privilege to say, "The worst thing is never the last thing. This is not the end. There is hope beyond the worst this world can do." That is, after all, why Jesus came, to give us eternal hope, the promise and the certainty of resurrection.

And ultimately hope is found in the real promise of Advent—the anticipation of Jesus' return. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time fearing Jesus' return. Those end-times movies that made the rounds of churches in the late 1970's scared me to death. A lot of prayer later, his return is a source of tremendous hope for me. It is the only hope for this weary old world, for when he comes, the world will be set to rights. And all will be well. Come, Lord Jesus.

It's Advent—have hope!

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