"The spiritual task of life is to feed hope. Hope is not something to be found outside of us. It lies in the spiritual life we cultivate within. The whole purpose of wrestling with life is to be transformed into the self we are meant to become, to step out of the confines of our false securities and allow our creating God to go on creating. In us." ~ Joan D. Chittister
Today's photo may not stir hope and galvanize you the way Sister Joan's quote does. You probably prefer bright blue skies. I sure do. But don't we need hope most when the outer world reflects dark, heavy, dreary conditions within us? For those days, for all days, let's feed hope and nurture our spirits today.
Amen,
Charlene
Blogging on:
When this photo was taken in 2001, I was resting on my bed, watching my little stained-glass angel spin and swing in the wind. I was halfway through chemotherapy treatments. Despite being told at the outset that there was no cure for the form of lymphoma that was growing in me, overall I had hope. I reasoned that, if at least one person had achieved a cure for every kind of cancer (which is true), then I
could too. Every day I nurtured hope with thoughts like that. This blue angel reminded me that faith is having conviction that the healing I hoped for was happening, even though there was no evidence for me to bank on. I just believed.
Sometimes, it was relatively easy to feed and feel hope. But, sometimes I felt like the clouds in this photo. When that happened, I learned it was best to dive into the depths of hope.
The surface of hope is like floating on the top of warm, calm, crystal-clear Caribbean Sea water. Here is where we make wishes and hope they will come true.
It's in cold depths, however, where the pressure is strong and it's dark except for the wondrous glow of bioluminescent creatures, that we trust in what is unfolding. In the depths we know that life is good, even
when the outcome is different than the one we want. Hope at this level welcomes hidden blessings.
One such blessing is then being lifted from the depths to a state of peace that can seem as if we are floating on air., above the surface of hope.
With gratitude,
Charlene
