Choose Hope

Well, I’m a little sad that Halloween has passed because that means all the strange, funny, scary and wonderfully creative decorations are slowly disappearing. This big green spider that has watched silently from this roof will be sorely missed. It is even lit up at night, with glowing red eyes and a pulsating light in the body. The house will look very dull and uninteresting when it crawls away until next year.

That is the nature of all of life, all life long, isn’t it? Nothing remains the same. But, we too often forget that this truth runs through our life in both directions. We all can easily think of the changes In the good; we feel so strongly the loss of love, of health, of youth, of our dreams. We have to adjust to new routines, learn new patterns of behavior. We ask ourselves, “ Why can’t things just stay the same?”

It would do us well to remember that the same is true for so much of the “not so good” in our life. There have been many times that it seemed we wouldn’t make it, yet here we are. There were days when we couldn’t imagine taking another step, but we are still traveling on our journey. We may have experienced pain and loss that we felt certain would be the end of us, but instead we have endured, the pain not defeating us but inspiring us to create, let’s say, ways of celebrating the life and love of those we have lost. Nothing remains the same. And, sometimes, change is the blessing. The hard things can pass through as well.

It helps me to remember such truth. The apostle writes, “And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.” Through all the changes life brings, good or bad, we can choose hope.

Peace,

Barry