Thoughts on The First Week of Advent ~ Thoughts on Hope

Hope

How does hope survive during days of

broken 

promises,

broken dreams,

broken lives?

How does hope survive when all we see are

broken people?

How do we hope to survive when we are the 

broken ones?

When we are the 

broken people?

In our brokenness,

we promise ourselves that we will 

do better, 

be better, 

make things better.

We never do.

We never can.

We are broken.

How can we make things better?

We hear the promises of others when they say they will

do better,

be better,

make things better.

Hope.

We hope for better

health,

friendships,

relationships,

family dynamics,

places to live,

jobs,

grades,

educational opportunities.

We hope for better outcomes

in encounters with others,

in sports events,

medical tests,

test scores in the classroom.

We long for things to be as they should be.

We hope that one whom

upsets us, 

disappoints us,

ignores us,

won’t speak to us,

lies to us,

steals from us,

uses us,

hurts us,

will see the error of his or her ways

 and 

do better,

be better,

make things better.

Hope.

Oh, hope can seem like such an empty word when promises are broken.

We want to scream to the promise breaker,

“That promise you made to me was broken.

Do I even dare to trust you again?”

You broke my heart.

You broke my trust.

You have left me broken.

We ask ourselves, 

“How can I even begin to fix a broken dream?”

We ask others,

 the ones whom have shattered our hearts, 

broken our trust,

“How do you plan to fix my heart, the one you shattered?”

“How will you fix the trust you have broken?”

Dreams have a quality about them that deems them unbreakable.

Who would ever dream of broken dreams?

When one dreams, one dreams that the dream will never be broken.

Broken dreams.

Broken lives.

We pass them on the street.

We see broken lives with outstretched hands as we walk pass them on the street

where they stand on street corners,

with signs that say,

“Hungry.”

“Anything helps.”

Broken people.

They sit with me at the Thanksgiving table.

 They call me on the phone.

They are my people.

I am one of them.

I too am broken.

I am also a fixer.

I want to fix every broken thing.

I do not want to toss anything aside that I think can be fixed.

I want every relationship to be fixed.

I want every heart to be mended.

I want every heart repaired.

I can fix nothing because

I

too

am 

broken.

Where does this leave me?

Where do I go from here?

Like David, I cry out,

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.

I am filled with longing for all things to be made right.

I can’t make things right for myself or for others.

I need a redeemer,

A savior.

 I don’t want to lose hope.

Hope, it cannot be placed in me or in others.

I am hopeless.

I can’t be the one in whom you place your hope.

I too am broken.

None of us can

do better,

be better,

make things better,

because all of us are broken.

Where is that Rock whom is higher than I?

Where is the anchor for 

my life,

my soul?

To that Rock I want to cling.

Without that Rock,

I too would be like those of old,

those whom passed through the land distressed and hungry,

and when they were hungry, they were enraged and spoke contemptuously against their king and their God.

They looked to the earth, but all they saw was distress, darkness and gloom of anguish.

They were thrust into thick darkness.*

There was no hope.

There is no hope.

The longing for hope.

The longing for One higher than I.

The longing for a Rock to which I can cling is the longing of our hearts.

We groan inwardly with all creation waiting for redemption. **

We long for hope.

We long for Advent.

The coming.

Advent is now.

It is upon us.

On the first Sunday of Advent we are given hope.

“The people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in deep darkness,

On them has light shone. ***

Jesus,

The child is born,

The son is given to us. ****

He, this child, is our hope.

In my brokenness,

my longing for all things to be made right,

in my longing 

for healing of 

bodies,

minds,

relationships,

I know of no other

Healer,

Restorer,

Giver of Peace,

Except the One called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. *****

Jesus,

The Word made flesh dwelt among us. ******

He restores our hope and renews our hearts and minds.

He binds up our wounds.

I hope in Him.

He is my hope.

He is the Rock higher than I.

I will look to Him.  

I will hold fast to my confession of hope without wavering,

For he who promised is faithful.

In this season I don’t want to miss the greatest gift of all.

Jesus.

He is my hope.

I don’t have to hope in others, 

in dreams, 

in hopes that I have created in my own mind, 

that I hope to achieve in my own strength.

I have the hope the world long awaited,

The longing of every broken heart,

Jesus.

Yes, 

He alone is my hope.

*Isaiah 8:21-22

**Romans 8:22

***Isaiah 9:2

****Isaiah 9:6

*****Isaiah 9:6

******John 1:14

*The photos of the stained glass window were taken in the old United Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where I grew up. As a child, I was always fascinated by these windows and have so many fond memories of listening to sermons, praying, singing hymns, and listening to my mother’s beautiful soprano voice sing beautiful solos while I pondered the beauty of it all.