Sacred Hope
Welcome to my first edition of “Sacred Snapshots.”
This is a season in which there are many voices seeking to fill the emptiness that COVID-19 has created in many of our lives. I am reluctant to be another, except for the fact that something is stirring in my heart to share. Although I am finding myself struggling through this time of pandemic (like everyone else), I also feel uniquely prepared for it.
I have been in a season in my life where everything has been on a long pause. Much of what made me feel alive is gone and I have experienced the deep, dark fog of prolonged grief. I’ve been here before, but not in such intensity. And yet, what has anchored me, what has rooted me in the deep recesses of my soul, is an underlying and powerful hope.
Scripture tells us, “Hope does not disappoint.” Hope is more than fantasy and it is vastly different from delusion. Hope is trust in what is real and sure. Hope looks toward what is coming and what cannot yet be seen. Hope is the master of anchoring in the now, while embracing the not yet.
Many of us feel a deep disruption in our sense of equilibrium these days. What I have learned is that the tendency in times like this is to try to regain that equilibrium, to press through and push on until we get there again and to do it as fast as possible! The problem is that when we do this, we often miss what we are meant to see in the in-between time, the time after something has ended and before something new has begun. This in-between time has been called “liminal space” and it is in my opinion, the most challenging place to be. But, it can also be the place that is most ripe for possibility and growth.
Like you, I long for a sense of normal back. I want my children to be able to be in school and lessons other than on Zoom. I yearn to go to the grocery store without feeling like I’m entering a war zone. I crave seeing people’s faces again without the hindrance of an ugly mask. I desire to sit across the table from a trusted friend and simply enjoy their presence. I need to sleep peacefully through the night once more. I ache for the comfort of my routines back, sooner rather than later.
But, the reality is that this is out of my control. The reality is that none of us can speed this along. The reality is that there are always lessons to be learned if we will simply pay attention to what those are.
Let’s not waste this time. Let’s grow through it. Let’s allow our hearts to be transformed for the better through it. Let’s trust that good is coming, while acknowledging the pain and strain of today. We are closer than we think we are.
Hold on to hope today. Many blessings, my friends.
