The Hope

 

Today was the day that the Friends University Singing Quakers presented the program for the last chapel of the semester on campus.  This is an annual thing the Quakers do, and the public is invited to attend and take in the program.  I’ve been attending for several years, and did so today along with our lead minister, Curtis, and my wife, Pat.

This entire week as been one that has brought its share of bad news.  We have a one year old grand son who has been battling a respiratory illness all week.  The weather has not been very cooperative in terms of pleasant conditions.  Several of our church family members are fighting various illnesses, including long Covid, cancer, and other ailments.  One of my life long friends my age passed away late last week.  Another church family lost their mother last week.  Our office manager has been battling some kind of respiratory illness the past several days.  The list of bad news just seems to never end this week.

I caught a ride to the Singing Quakers program with Curtis.  On the way there, we talked a bit about the downer kind of week we both were having, and I said to  him, “So, where’s the good news this week?”  It seemed that all we had been hearing was the bad.

We didn’t say much more about it then, or later on as we came back to the church building.  And the chapel service, concentrating on Advent and the holiday, was uplifting and beneficial to our souls.  Later on, a small group of us gathered for a prayer time over the lunch hour as we do many Thursdays.  During the course of the conversation there, Curtis said something about the incredible blessings we have.  His thought was along the lines of both as participants in this society and as members of the family of God.  I didn’t say anything at that time, but it got me to thinking of our earlier conversation about the bad news of the last week or so.

Yes, we sometimes are hit, it seems, with nothing but bad news…either for ourselves or for those we love.  Yes, it seems that we endure more than our fair share of bad things happening either to us or to those we love.  Yes, it seems that even life itself sometimes isn’t fair.  Yes, we grow weary at times of the load that is placed upon us.  And, I suppose, we even at times despair of life itself, somewhat as the great Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about the times he and others were going through in the first century, “We were pressed beyond measure, beyond strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.”

But if we step back a bit from the edge of the cliff, we can begin to see the truly remarkable blessings, both physical and spiritual, that are ours to enjoy.  I won’t take the time to try to enumerate them here…you know what those blessings are for you, whether it be family, friends, God’s presence, food and shelter, transportation, or any number of other blessings of this life.  And as we begin to think on those things, the worries and cares that have been pressing upon us seem to be shrinking in scope and size.  Oh, they are still there, but there is now an alternative thought process taking place…the process of thanksgiving for God’s providence and love.

And as we continue down that road, those things which we label as bad news become opportunities for service and sacrifice…we have the opportunity to demonstrate the love of God within us and our love for both God and our neighbor.  We are better able to sort through the issues of the day, work with God to formulate a plan, and find the strength and wisdom in Him to carry it out.  And the world, or at least our corner of it, becomes instead of a harbor of bad news, a place of hope and blessing.

No, we won’t ever create a perfect world…a perfect society…a perfectly healthy environment.  But as we partner with God, we can show the beauty of His handiwork to others and we can do the most important thing of all…introduce Jesus Christ to others in ways they may have never known.

So, at the beginning of this Advent season, we know that even though we may have to face those things we don’t like or want in our lives, we also know the hope of the coming of the Messiah and what that beyond-incredible blessing has done for us and for the world.  And we celebrate the hope that is found there.

 

Blessings,