True Hope

Dear Creator Family,

Easter! This season of hope, joy, and wonder as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, brings with it new hope and the sense that all things are possible. It is a time when the routine of the day and the pattern of the year are interrupted by an acute spiritual awareness of the possibility of true change. The gift that we received from God, in the Resurrection of the Son, is not only the miracle and the promise of New Life in Christ, it is the witness to a new perspective.

When Jesus rose from the dead, God proved to us that it was possible to see the world in a different way. Our lives are not written as they are, immutable and frozen; they are the seedbed of new and amazing possibilities. Perhaps the greatest gift we have received is the imagining of possibility itself: the ability to dream–to see life as it does not yet exist, and the power to make that new existence a reality.  Hope, Joy, Love, and the intensity of the uncreated, all exist within us in the heart of our imagination made real by the power of the resurrection.

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” – Jonas Salk

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson

“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” – Barbara Kingsolver

Hope is not a desperate thing; it is the root of possibility. To hope is to turn the mind, heart, and spirit toward God, and to know that God is fostering the possibility of our hearts. 

The sadness that we often feel when we hope is the sadness of unrealized realities. We hope for something that did not manifest in our lives, but that is not real hope, not the possibility of things beyond ourselves. That is lost hope or feelings based on what is past. True hope embraces new possibilities and new realities. True hope is a manner of life that realizes that things may not be exactly as we want, but there is spiritual and heartfelt fulfillment in what is possible. Our hope is not tied with an anchor to the past, but anchored in the present, an open door looking forward in eager anticipation of what comes next. 

“The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish. Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God's fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer's life.” – John C. Broger

“Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19), because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a 'wish' (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.” – RC Sproul

“Now that you have a deeper understanding of what hope is really all about, how can you not apply it in your life today?” – Unknown

In Hope,
Fr. Bill+