Sometimes what surrounds us in the News gets so heavy we are seriously tempted to despair of things ever getting any better. We all know this space. Yet Pope Francis stands there with us, but calls us to look elsewhere. All of us live in this present world, and it is broken, wounded, corrupted, abused, and blind. Not a happy picture. This is real. But something else is real too. The more permanent reality is the content of our hope.
We are talking about real stuff here, not just pie-in-the-sky. By stuff I mean tangible realities all around us that give substance to our hope. Deepest of all are the promises of our God, that life comes out of death, and that there will be a new creation. God does not lie. Yet we say, we must wait for the future for these to be fulfilled, right? Right maybe that they be fulfilled in their fullness, but in the meantime, we simply need to open our eyes. What are the signs of the content of our hope already at work right now?
Let’s start with ourselves. We are a bundle of possibilities. Every morning we have a new 24 hours before us. We will create, as we put our feet on the floor, what will actually fill those next 24 hours. Contacts, calls, choices, reflections, quiet, grief, joy, surprises, actions…like a canvas, the day awaits our artistry. With God’s assurances humming in our hearts, we will turn possibilities to actualities. This is going on all around the world among all peoples. What can we do today to create better government? Better health care for everyone? Eradicate homelessness? Protect the environment? How can we comfort the grieving? Speak a good word? Watch the flowers bloom…they silently speak of hope’s content here and now. Watch the sunrise…it announces another day for caring, loving, helping. The Mystery deep within us is singing of hope. In stillness we can hear it. In living it we can make it visible…right now, today.
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