Blessing of Hope

“A Thread of Hope” by Julie Elliot

What will spring find as she greets the northern hemisphere this month? Refugees pouring out of Ukraine as Putin escalates war on their country. Differing opinions about vaccinations causing division in families, communities, and countries. New outbreaks and people tired of the pandemic.

And spring will also find hope in the midst. Can we face both the beauty and the horror of our times? We're grateful to Jan Richardson for permission to share her Blessing for Hope along with thoughts about a hope that's stronger than wishful thinking. May it be so.

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Jan Richardson says, "... I keep learning how blessedly stubborn hope can be—true hope, real hope, hope that is something quite other than wishful thinking. Hope seems to keep working in me like a deep muscle memory, setting me in motion when I don't know how to move on my own. If your own hope has been getting wobbly, this is for you."

Blessing of Hope

So may we know
the hope
that is not just
for someday
but for this day—
here, now,
in this moment
that opens to us:

hope not made
of wishes
but of substance,

hope made of sinew
and muscle
and bone,

hope that has breath
and a beating heart,

hope that will not
keep quiet
and be polite,

hope that knows
how to holler
when it is called for,

hope that knows
how to sing
when there seems
little cause,

hope that raises us
from the dead—

not someday
but this day,
every day,
again and
again and
again.
 

"Blessing of Hope" © Jan Richardson from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief. Used by permission. janrichardson.com