Hope of Advent (a poem)

Hope is a strange thing.
Hope in the face
     of uncertainty,
     of discord,
     of disease,
     of brokenness,
     of adversity,
     of wickedness,
     of bad news
seems irresponsible and naive.
But . . .
Hope sees a way
     where the path appears blocked.
Hope beckons us
     when all else seems lost.
Hope is 
     that which pulls us
     toward possibility.
Hope is foolishness
     in the eyes of a pessimistic world.

Hope is 

the audacious persistence 

of a young expectant 

mother 

who sings songs of deliverance

in the shadow of 
     occupation

          and 
     patriarchy

because of the promise held 

in her womb.  

O, the voice of hope
It will not
     waver in the presence of fear.
It will not
     yield under the strain of adversity.
It will not
     fail in the grip of oppression.
Courage,
Faith,
Love,
Resistance,
Change,
     are impossible without it.
In this season of Advent,
In this season of waiting,
In this season of anticipation,
may we live our lives “as if”
     in this “not yet” world;
may we be known
     as people of hope.

Activity:
Find some Post It Notes or 3 x 5 notecards.
:

Write one word of hope for yourself, for your family, or for our world on each card. 

Link the cards together from top to bottom and hang them someplace where you can see them throughout Advent.
Consider ways that you might work toward these purposes.
Take action on one of the items in your list.
Live into hope.