Monday, February 28, 2005

1 March 2005

From Walter Brueggemann

Hope, on the one hand, is an absurdity too embarrassing to speak about, for it flies in the face of all those claims we have been told are facts. Hope is the refusal to accept the reading of reality which is the majority opinion; and one does that only at great political and existential risk. On the other hand, hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretension of the present, daring to announce that the present to which we have all made commitments is now called into question.

Hope sounds frightening. Why hope when we can stay safe within what is? And yet, what is...is not what it can be. We must be willing to look beyond the security of what we have even if it means there is the chance - sometimes a good chance - that we will be shut down. The "majority opinion" is powerful and it is able to sway people from the vision of a new day in order to keep the status quo in place. What is so hopeful to me is that no matter what appears to be ruling the day, there are always people willing to hope for something more....always.

Connection: Find someone who helps you be hopeful despite the conditions all around you. They are there.

Lord, we count on you to lead us and yet we are often afraid to follow. Remind us of your presence and be the encouragement for this day. Amen.

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