Our great mistake is that we tie hope to outcome. —Cynthia Bourgeault
Brian McLaren suggests a continuing source of hope not dependent on the outcome:
If we can see a likely path to our desired outcome, we have hope; if we can see no possible path to our desired outcome, we have despair. If we are unsure whether there is a possible path or not, we keep hope alive, but it remains vulnerable to defeat if that path is closed.
When our prime motive is love, a different logic comes into play. We find courage and confidence, not in the likelihood of a good outcome, but in our commitment to love. Love may or may not provide a way through to a solution to our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step into the unknown at a time. Sustained by this fierce love (as my friend Jacqui Lewis calls it), we may persevere long enough that, to our surprise, a new way may appear where there had been no way. At that point, we will have reasons for hope again. But even if hope never returns, we will live by love through our final breath.
To put it differently, even if we lose hope for a good outcome, we need not lose hope of being good people, as we are able: courageous, wise, kind, loving, “in defiance of all that is bad around us.” [1] …
We feel arising within us this sustained declaration: We will live as beautifully, bravely, and kindly as we can as long as we can, no matter how ugly, scary, and mean the world becomes, even if failure and death seem inevitable. In fact, it is only in the context of failure and death that this virtue develops. That’s why Richard Rohr describes this kind of hope as “the fruit of a learned capacity to suffer wisely and generously. You come out much larger and that largeness becomes your hope.”
Hope is complicated. But … even if hope fails, something bigger can replace it, and that is love. [3]
Choctaw elder Steven Charleston places love at the center of our hope.
The key to stopping the environmental apocalypse is not science but love. For decades now we have been staring at the scientific reports. They have not sufficiently inspired us to change our apocalyptic reality. But where science has failed, faith can succeed. We must help humanity rediscover [Mother Earth], their loving parent, the living world that sustains them. We must help them feel her love just as we show them how that love can be returned. And it can begin by gathering people around two simple questions: Where were you in nature when you experienced a vision of such beauty that it took your breath away? And how did that make you feel? If you can answer those two questions, you are on your way to meeting the Mother you may never have known before. [4]
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| The Subtlety of Seeds |
 Our noisy world has abandoned the grace of subtlety. Some estimate we are assaulted by 5000 ads every day. They come at us from every direction as we move through the world. Each one shouting at us or demanding our attention. We are incessantly bombarded by so many messages that it has become increasingly unlikely for any one voice to get through. As a result, we feel the need to crank up the volume, excitement, and emotion of everything in the hope to communicate anything.This applies to the church as well. What passes for “worship” in many places is loud enough to move one’s internal organs if not one’s spirit. And when one congregation’s gathering gets predictable, we look for something bigger and more exciting to inspire us. Likewise, rather than the simple work of loving our neighbors and serving those in need, we put our hope in the next “faith-based” blockbuster movie to reach the culture for Christ. The problem, I suspect, is that while we prefer the spectacular, God is happy to work through the subtle. And while we think outcomes are based upon how God’s word is proclaimed, he knows the outcomes are actually determined by how his word is received.This is evident in Jesus’ parable of the soils. He said the seed sown is the “word of the kingdom” which people hear. Seeds, of course, are tiny, nearly invisible things. There is nothing attention-grabbing about seeds. If we were in charge of determining how the word of God is spread, we’d prefer fireworks, synchronized music, and a laser light show—something spectacular that is likely to produce equally spectacular outcomes. But the point of Jesus’ story is precisely the opposite. The outcome is not dependent upon the seed, nor the technique employed by the sower to throw it. Instead, it’s all about the soil that receives it. We want to believe that the effectiveness of Christ’s ministry resides in our strategies or spectacular gifts, but Jesus knows there is a far deeper mystery at work. One that is hidden from our sight and far beyond our control. Therefore, the Lord is quite content for his word to go forth in subtle, unspectacular ways even if we are not. DAILY SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 13:1-9 MATTHEW 13:18-23 1 KINGS 19:11-13 WEEKLY PRAYER. From Clement of Alexandria (150 – 215) Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness.May we all live in the peace that comes from you. May we journey toward your city, sailing through the waters of sin untouched by the waves, borne serenely along by the Holy Spirit. Night and day may we give you praise and thanks, because you have shown us that all things belong to you, and all blessings are gifts from you. To you, the essence of wisdom, the foundation of truth, be glory for evermore.Amen. |
