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Reflections of Hope by Duncan McCallum
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"Oh God our help in ages past Our hope for years to come Our shelter from the stormy blasts And our eternal home" "God our help/God our hope" can be interpreted as a powerful prayer or powerful words with a powerful meaning. Hope speaks to a future, a future founded on God's help, shelter and protection. I don't think the author of these wonderful words meant to trivialize hope as we so often do these days, when we 'hope' to win the lottery; when we 'hope' that the Brian Burke will bring a Stanley Cup to the Maple Leafs I believe God meant us to understand that hope is rooted and must be rooted deep in our hearts and in our spirit. As such, hope can be a compelling force for optimistic resolution to life's problems. 13/01/2009 04:21 PM |
Hope is the beacon of light that guides us to the future and, when we sing those words "our hope for years to come", it gives voice to our prayer to God. Yet, what of those in our church, our community and our world for whom hope may seem to be an empty promise, an elusive goal. Hampered by life's struggles, dealing with deep despair, burdened by war, by terror, by fear, or by famine and lack of shelter, they struggle to find hope - to find that beacon of light that would light the way to a better future and they struggle to find the voice to offer up their prayers to God. I believe God calls on each of us as his servants to light 'the light of hope' and to be the voice of hope for those who are disadvantaged and to be their "shelters from the stormy blasts" so that they too may find in God their eternal home. In the spirit and meaning of this advent season and the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and in the deep tradition of our Christian faith, will we rise up to meet the challenge of bringing hope to those who struggle to find hope in their troubled lives? |
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