he died and we shall die; he struggled with good and evil in his forty days in the desert, and we struggle. So, despite the calamities the future holds, hope gives us the interior peace and strength to shoulder whatever comes our way. Christian hope is a blessed gift.
One day a young sister was walking with an older, seasoned sister in the convent garden. Feeling insecure about what God wanted her to do; she was asking the older sister for some advice. The older sister walked up to a rosebush, handed the young sister a rosebud and told her to open it without tearing off any petals. The young sister looked in disbelief at the older sister as she was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with wanting to know the will of God regarding her ministry. Because of her great respect for the older sister, she proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. She quickly realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger sister’s inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older sister began to recite the following poem:
It is only a tiny rosebud, a flower of God’s design. But I cannot unfold the petals with these clumsy hands of mine. The secret of unfolding flowers is not known to such as I. God opens this flower so easily, but in my hands they die. If I cannot unfold a rosebud, this flower of God’s design. Then how can I have the wisdom to unfold this life of mine? So I’ll trust in God for leading each moment of my day. I will look to God for guidance in each step of the way. The path that lies before me only my Lord knows. I’ll trust God to unfold the moments, just as he unfolds the rose.
Hope helps us leave the flowers of our life in the hands of God. When Christians believe God is in control, hope springs eternal. There is an assurance that this is God’s world and he is more concerned about the people in it than they are. Hope is not a naive optimism, but rather a disposition that accepts challenges and suffering as a part of life. Although aware of character weaknesses and having no illusions about sin, a Christian is full of hope. The Christian way recognizes sin and does not despair because the Holy Spirit continues his work with each individual and leads him or her by the hand, very gently, toward the Father’s house.
Candlelight
A lighted candle often represents hope. When prayer seems as cold as ice or as dark as night, an individual can gaze at a candle flame. Candles come in different shapes and sizes. The large Paschal candle stands alight at Mass during the Easter season, at baptisms and at funerals. It represents the victorious Christ who leads his followers through their days and nights. There are Advent traditions of lighting a candle in the window to guide Mary and Joseph into one’s home, and lighting candles on the Advent wreath. Christmas candles celebrate Jesus’ birth and light the way for the wise men to come and see him. Lighted votive candles represent prayers. A simple candle flame is a brilliant symbol of hope. It keeps the chill of darkness at bay by giving us light and warmth. Like birds that sing in the dark before the dawn, flames are a reminder that the sun will rise. May these flames of hope always show the way to the flame in the Christian heart, which is a perpetual reminder of Christ the light.
It is in that holy moment
when the candlewick is snuffed
and the yellow halo grows
its black cord
that the warm wax works its
softness into us,
wraps its way around our hearts, like the climbing smoke
from the extinguished candlewick
up the staircase of air—
that moment of unmistakable nasality
of candle scent in chapel dark
that suffers us to realize
that we are to be trimmed to burn again.8
Christ Our Light
Christians live in the light because of the reassurance that Christ is risen and is directing the world to its final destiny. With Jesus’ help, fears are recognized, but they no longer dominate the days since there is strength in believing in Jesus and his promises. Death is the testament to, and final expression of, hope. Without hope in God, humankind will not reach its fullest potential. Teresa of Avila9 reminds us: “Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.” It should not be “I think, therefore I am” but rather, “I believe, therefore I always will be.” Herman Melville writes: “Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable and attesting to her eternity.” Christians believe in the greatness and blessedness of eternity even though it is shrouded in mystery and only partially revealed. Yes, eternity has extraordinary descriptions, but while on earth, they can only be understood as fragments of a whole. Hope, rooted in faith, is the means by which a person trusts in God, and that God will grant eternal life as long as an individual abides by the tenants necessary to attain that life. It is essential to do what is required and to rely on God’s infinite goodness and promises in order to reach humanity’s ultimate destiny.
A Golden Thread
Hope is a thread that should be woven through a life, not simply stitched into occasional patches with a few cheery words or scattered good deeds. Hope sustains optimism, the belief that something better can be attained. In his Summa, Thomas Aquinas said that hope is an activity concerned with a future good that is difficult to accomplish, but that is capable of achieving, with the help of God. Hope puts all in the hands of God with confidence. To maintain hope when a situation appears to be hopeless takes strong faith. “But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa 40:31).
A hope-filled soul lifts thoughts and aspirations to something beyond the physical or mental self. With confidence in God, new ways are found toward the positive and the good. Everything a person does impacts humanity in a positive or negative way. Hope is reflected in one’s thoughts, words and actions. Sweet are the graces that come from having an orientation of hope.
Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China more than fifty years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yuncheng. With only one assistant, she led a hundred orphans over the mountains toward free China. During the journey she grappled with fear. After passing a sleepless night she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A thirteen year old girl in the group reminded her of their much loved story of Moses and the Red Sea. “But I am not Moses,” Gladys sighed in despair. “Of course you aren’t,” the girl said, “but God is still God!” When Gladys and the orphans made it through to freedom, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can still trust him. Sometimes God calms the storm, other times he lets the storm rage and he calms us. Either way, he sustains us and brings us through. We always have a choice: either we give the burden to God or we try to carry it ourselves. How does God provide for us? One day at a time. Remember the Israelites in the wilderness? Each day God fed them by sending manna from heaven. Notice how it worked. The number of people in each family determined the amount of manna they received, no more and no less. And God would only enable them to collect enough for each day; hoarded manna rotted. Trust God for today and leave tomorrow in his hands. “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.”10
In
