Hope

For the first time in several months I have felt hopeful- hopeful that our nation will find its way back to service, to responsibility, to learning and even back to faith. As I sat and watched the inaguration yesterday I was struck by what our now president had to say in his address. He didn't deny the fact that life is hard, that things aren't always as we want them, nor are they always perfect and yet we can still hope- hope in a better future, a brighter tomorrow and for better outcomes. I think that in life and in faith hope sustains us in the hard moments and even in the easy times; hope carries us through those difficult things and keeps us pushing towards a better tomorrow. Of course along with hope comes faith, faith that God does not leave us alone to walk on our own, but walks with us through it all. We may not always seen the hand of God in everything and we may at times raise our fists to God and cry out for him to show us more of his love and grace; and yet through it all we know that God is with us. Our hope then is not in earthly things, but in our relationship with the Lord of the Universe. Our hope is in Christ's love and grace. Our challenge then this year is to put our hope and our faith in Christ and Christ alone, to trust that Christ is with us and that through it all God walks with us as we learn and grow in faith.