The Presence of Hope

One of my friends sent me a quote from Anne Lamott yesterday.  I don't remember ever reading anything from her before but I liked what I read from this writer and I want to share it:

 

Frederick Buechner wrote:  "Here is the world.  Beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Don't be afraid."

But it is hard not to be afraid, isn't it?  Some wisdom traditions say that you can't have love and fear at the same time, but I beg to differ.  You can be a passionate believer in God, in Goodness, in Divine Mind, and the immortality of the soul, and still be afraid.  I'm Exhibit A.

The temptation is to say as cute little Christians sometimes do, Oh, it will all make sense someday. Great blessings will arise from the tragedy, seeds of new life sown.  And I absolutely believe those things, but if it minimizes the terror, it's bullshit.

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There is amazing love and grace in people's response to the killings.  It's like white blood cells pouring in to surround and heal the infection.  It just breaks your heart every time, in the good way, where Hope tiptoes in to peer around.

 

Thanks, my friend, for introducing me to Anne Lamott.   I will read more of her thoughts on hope and faith.   These families who have suffered loss in the bombings of Boston and in all the killings by maniacs with guns need to sense the presence of hope in a big way, today and all the tomorrows.  But for all the rest of us, the fear of living in the hate of today makes us pull back in retreat.

 

The only way we can make it is to sense the presence of hope which can help us overcome and walk on.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."