It is never useless to live in hope

 

Wendell Berry is one of my favorite poets.

Every day do something that won't compute.
Love the Lord.
Love the world.
Work for nothing.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Plant Sequoias.
Be joyful though you have considered the facts.
Practice resurrection. (From Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front.)

 

And this is from Emily Dickinson.

Hope is the thing with feathers

that perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all.

 

This has been a long year already. Headlines and talking newsheads hammer us with the economy, war, crime, etc. It is easy to be discouraged.  We pray for friends in cancer treatment, fighting depression, chronic illness, divorce, long term pain, and it is  hard.

 

Emily Dickinson's notion is that we sing our pain, hurt, sorrow, joy, the unanswerable Why? Wendell Berry's "practice resurrection" takes hope and love into every life. So here is my offering.

 

Bring Hope …

                … into violence and evil,

                bring hope, bring reconciliation,

                bring love to bear on those in sorrow,

                bring your life, quietly, wordlessly, tearfully,

                                if that's all you we can do.

 

                … embodied in arms and hands,

                bring your smile, bring forgiveness,

                bring your full self completely through their doorways

                bring the touch of fingertips and lips

                                in Christ’s name.

 

                … to change the equation,

                bring no sense for the world, this hope-bringing,

                bring this way to live that makes sense,

                bring faith, bring trust to sing your song

                                and never cease.

Pastor Jim⁺