I've been pondering a question I heard recently - Are hope and love enough for our moment in time?
Author Sarah Bessey says for her it's a question that was born out of a long season of her own hopelessness and wondering, recovery and wrestling, healing and exploring.
Bessey concludes that as it turns out: yes. Loving is a worthwhile risk. I agree with her. What else can we do to impact the tsunami of hatred, violence, and destruction so pervasive in this moment? We can hold out the light of Love. We can love a little more fiercely and courageously. To do so is to hold out a light of hope, as small and flickering as it may be, against the darkness that wants to push in on us all.
Bessey says that to keep loving and hoping is like a shot in the dark that illuminates everything, a radical act of hope and faith. Even in this we are invited to be in step with the God who ... runs extravagantly into this world. For God so loved the world, for God so loved the world, for God so loved the world. For God so loved this broken, longing, beautiful, terrified, burning, glorious world. Maybe God is desperate for us to repair our imagination and leave some room for the foolishness of love and hope again.
For God so loved the world.
What loving act today might push back the darkness a little bit - and shine the light of hope? It may be as simple as extra kindness at home, sending a message of encouragement, or a phone call to someone who's lonely. Maybe it's leaning into the forgiveness you know is important for your own or someone else's healing. What small candle can we hold out today?
May God's gift of rest and hope renew and nourish you this week.
Ruth
