The advent wreath sat on the table in the front of the church. Four candles: four weeks until Christmas. The candles stood tall, expectantly waiting to be set ablaze, each one serving a deeper meaning. The flame from the lighter quickly drew near the first candle – lighting it. Immediately, the aroma of HOPE danced through the air.
The sight and meaning of that candle got me thinking. Hope has become something that fascinates me. I used to think of hope as something nice, something pleasant, something… I don’t know…happy, I guess. And then I did Mission Year. As I struggled through that year, watching so many hopeless situations, hoping took on a new dimension for me. It was painful. In order to hope, you have to genuinely EXPECT. You have to keep on believing that things will change, that good things will come, that God will be faithful. And that is both scary and painful, because you can’t hope for those things, without caring, without feeling. You can’t shut out the realities and still hope. You can’t grow numb to the difficult situations and still hope. You have to live in the realities as they are, and still cling to the hope that things can and will change for the better.
This Christmas I was reminded again to hope. It is so easy to become so involved in my own day-to-day activities and forget to look around me. If I’m not careful, I can end up working, socializing, and just plain living without ever thinking about anyone else. I can shut out the realities of my neighbors, my neighborhood, and the world. But that is not why I live where I do, and that is not what God has called me to. God has asked me to see, to love, to feel, and to hope.
So, like the small flame of an Advent candle, hope lights my darkness and grows. And I hope some more…
I hope that I will feel what God feels for my neighbors
I hope that the level of privilege and comfort I have will make me uncomfortable
I hope that the addictions and the drug dealing in my neighborhood will be stopped
I hope that prostitution in this neighborhood will cease to exist
I hope that in spite of odds stacked against them, the kids I’ve met will live successful, happy, and meaningful lives
I hope that the schools will improve, & that these kids will get a decent education,
I hope that as the church we will speak God’s love with our actions
I hope that we will prioritize people over things
I hope that God’s Kingdom will come as his will is done, in my life, in my neighborhood, in His Church, and in our world.
And I hope…that you too will hope.
Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born!!!
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