Hope

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast."

--Alexander Pope
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

I'm certain that hope is not a human invention. It's planted within, by our Maker. People, however, are often used as vessels of hope. As human beings, we give others hope with encouraging words, with acts of service, and by witnessing to them about our own source of hope. For the Christian, that hope is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

So A. Pope was right in a sense. Hope does spring eternal, because Christ is eternal. As Christ as my source of hope, I know that I'll never run out of the stuff. This week, I've found myself calling out to God more. Asking for direction, guidance, and wisdom. Asking for forgiveness, and healing. And asking for a really healthy dose of hope. Hope isn't a thing with feathers, as Emily Dickinson describes. If it were, that bird would have long pecked its way out of my soul and flown away. And that's just not true--I have hope. It still wells within me.