Practice Hope: Tuesday's Reflection

What do you find hopeful today?

In what ways do you experience hope?



I know this may be difficult. I know this may be a challenge, and you may feel anything but hopeful today, but stop, pause, and take a deep breath.  Stretch, if you need to, but open your heart to a sign or a moment of hope. (Look for the stars in this photograph.)

It doesn't need to be something major. Anything will do. Just something.

While you are in this brief moment of stillness, allow me to share a moment when I felt embraced with hope.

Last week we attended the St Olaf Christmas Festival, as we do most years. That concert signals the start of Advent for me, even more than decorating the house. Getting out our Christmas decorations is a personal thing giving me the context for everything else on the list--buying presents, writing Christmas cards, making cherry walnut bread etc. 

But the Christmas Festival opens my heart and connects me to the past, challenges me to be in the present, and leads me toward the future. 

Being there I remember my four privileged years as a student at St Olaf. This is where I met my husband and where I discovered my calling as a teacher, where I made longterm friendships, and where I took steps into adulthood. I think about all the other years of sitting in the hushed dark absorbing the Christmas message in music and the word. The first time I attended the concert, which is really a worship service, I was in third grade, I believe, and I will always remember that night as one of magic and beauty. I think about our daughter and son-in-love, who also graduated from St Olaf, and the love they continue to grow and share. 

I don't just dwell in the past, however. With the orchestra's first chord, this year Elgar's Adagio "Nimrod," such an evocative piece, I felt my body relax into the present moment. Be with the music. Be with the breath. Be with the inspiration. Be with the beauty. Be with this gift. 

At the same time I felt lifted into the future, a brighter and yes, better future. And that feeling surprised me. 

Before the concert began, all five choirs (400 plus voices) lined the perimeter of the gymnasium, majestically transformed into a concert hall. They stood shoulder to shoulder, forming what felt like a circle without beginning or ending. In this position they sang an African American spiritual.

                     Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
                     the time is drawing nigh.
                     Children, don't get weary 'til your work is done.
                     Christian journey soon be over,
                     the time is drawing nigh.
                     Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
                     the time is drawing nigh.

As all 400 bodies moved in unison, I felt enfolded, embraced, lifted by hope. All those young people. Here it was only days before the end of the fall semester --exams and final papers and projects--and they were sharing their gifts. Just as they will share their gifts with the world in future years. No wonder I felt filled with hope. 

Thomas Moore says, "Hope is not the same as expectation. Hope is a positive point of view tinged with joy that doesn't demand a certain outcome, but trusts in the goodness of life." 

Yes. 

May you find reasons to be hopeful.
May you live with hope and may you bring hope where you encounter darkness and uncertainty and loss. 

An Invitation
What is your experience of hope today? How do you practice hope?I would love to know. 

NOTE: The new issue of Bella Grace is now available, and it features my essay "Beyond the Threshold." I hope you will pick up a copy. 

Also, you can hear an encore performance of the St Olaf Christmas Concert at mpr.org on Sunday, December 24 at 2:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (CST). Or check christmas.stolaf.edu for further information.