Hope
Most of us can recall bits of poetry we once read as kids in English class, even though we may not remember the name of the poem or the context of the quote. And so it is with poems about hope. Alexander Pope, for example, in his “Essay on Man (1732): “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” But Pope places it in the context of humans always hoping for better things, even though they might not receive them. That’s sort of a downer.
Emily Dickinson (1830-86) captures it better: “Hope is the thing with feathers/The perches in the soul/ And sings the tune without the words/And never stops at all.” But I think that Saint Paul puts it best, in Romans 15:13 (New English Bible translation): “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace through your faith in Him until, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you overflow with hope.” Indeed!
Let us pray: Lord, thank you for the gift of hope. Help us to know in our hearts that when we need hope, you will provide it in ways we might not at first recognize. And when it comes, help us pass it on to others so that all may know that you are always doing for us better things than we can desire or pray for. Amen
Daily Message Author: Bob Griffiths
Bob is the former Chaplain at the Pines of Sarasota, southwest Florida’s oldest and largest not-for-profit senior care facility. Prior to joining the staff in 2010, Bob worked in hospice chaplaincy for seven years. He is the past Spiritual Life Director at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, Sarasota and is an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross, an Episcopal Benedictine religious order.
