Today’s author is PrincePrince of Peace’s Intentional Interim Pastor, Steve Sylvester.
In hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Emily Dickinson
A few weeks ago, I sat at a stoplight and watched three birds navigate the wind. It wasn’t the gales of November, but it was a pretty stiff breeze. They climbed a bit, backtracked some, then dipped down and forged ahead. They did not seem to be in any particular hurry, and their movements betrayed no panic. They patiently took what the wind gave them, and before my light turned green, they were gone.
Next Sunday, November 30, we begin the season of Advent, and with it, our new theme: Invited to… Hope. Like all our seasons in the Church Year, Advent is a harkening back to what was—our history with our God—and a straining toward what is not yet—Jesus’ return. But Jesus’ return is more than just a thing that will someday happen. It is a present reality. Hope is a present reality.
Paul writes with such confidence about something he cannot see. His confidence comes from the reality that the thing he does not yet see with his eyes already lives in his heart. It is a confidence that has been spoken into him, and it is more real than anything his senses could apprehend. Emily Dickinson speaks of the hope-bird that perches in her soul. It’s not a thought or a wish or a yearning. It’s real and feathered and its song is most readily heard in life’s harsh weather and loneliness.
As we begin our season of waiting, it is good to remember and believe that the One who is coming has been here already. And he has not fully left. He lives in our hearts, and he buoys us when winds are harsh and life beats on us. My prayer for all of you during this Advent season is that you will know and feel the hope which we cannot yet see.