01-30-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
January 30, 2025
Hope is a powerful source of strength that often appears, from an outside perspective, to be nothing but baseless wishful thinking at best. However, when someone presents a compelling vision of hope, it can be exhilarating, inspiring, and transformative. It can bring people together around a common vision for change. In the movie, Rogue One, part of the Star Wars series, an argument is being had among the rebel leaders in regard to the Empire and its new weapon called the Death Star. One of the leaders of the rebellion says, “You are asking us to do this based on nothing but hope.” To which one of the main characters, Jyn Erso, says, “Rebellions are built on hope.” In Dr. King’s book, “Where Do We Go From Here,” he talked about movements based in hope, but then he wrote, “Unfortunately, when hope diminishes, the hate is often turned most bitterly toward those who originally built up the hope.” Hope is both powerful and fragile, capable of electrifying large groups toward a vision of a more peaceful and just world, but when it fails to deliver on its promises in a timely manner, the group can redirect its energy toward the one who envisioned it. This is where I must remind myself again and again that hope is not magic, it does not have a specific timetable, and it never creates an obstacle-free path forward. I think about Anne Frank, who wrote in her diary, “It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Some individuals might interpret those words from the perspective of knowing Anne Frank’s fate, finding them naïve and ultimately powerless. Conversely, I find them incredibly compelling because they have offered hope to countless others throughout the years.

Continue to provide me with your Holy Spirit-infused hope, Good and Gracious God. And keep me from putting my own expectations ahead of what your Spirit is seeking to do, even when it is much slower than I’d like. Amen.