Monday, February 16, 2015

When Hope Springs Eternal

In my last post at 'The Turn-Up Patch', I ended with several photos of a beautiful sunset.  I begin today's post with several photos of a beautiful sunrise  that I was delighted to photograph this past week.  I happened to wake up early enough to notice the red and orange hued sky visible from the window.  Since colors can change dramatically fast, I grabbed my camera and headed outdoors to catch the scene.  It is times as these, I am grateful for the surrounding beauty that country life affords unencumbered by tall buildings and power lines.  



Such scenery can inspire and bring one to reflect on the magnificence of an Almighty God.  We live in a world full of color and splendor in all of its display in creation and yet, it is besieged in distress due to perverted beliefs and infesting corruption.  The world becomes a visible paradox - a contradiction of beauty in the ugliness of overt human suffering.  The axis of good and evil, light and dark rotate in a spiritual dimension manifesting opposite natures.  The media reports anguishing news of the plight of our fellow humanity in the witness of atrocities of what one human being can do to another in the name of their twisted justification.  Pockets of nobility, courage, empathy and compassion are scattered across the globe to counter cruelty but are reported comparatively little to the amount of inhumane news that we hear and read about.

Whether we falter in our daily living or that of present world disorder, where do we catch the glimmer of hope in this day and age of negativity and evil.   Just as the sunrise gives the first rays of light dispelling the darkness of night, so does hope shed a ray of light in the darkness of despair.  The words 'Hope Springs Eternal' come to mind and upon research, found that it is the title of  'An Essay on Man', written by Alexander Pope.....
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

Hope is energy driven -  a springboard that leaps from faith to that which is hoped for - the substance of the unseen.  Hope is color instead of the gray in black and white.  Helen Keller  stated that 'hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible'.  As the mythical Phoenix rises from the ashes, renewed and reborn, so does hope give us courage to propel us on to live a new day.  Hope, however, is not mythical It is a force centered on God and gives us a glimpse of the eternal.  
Hope is essential even though there could be an ultimate outcome that things did not turn out as desired. What then?  Hope rescues us to meet another day - it transcends us over an unfulfilled outcome into the Divine presence of God where peace and comfort is found.  Hope is never lost in the eternal.


Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”


Until next time on Monday, March 2 at The Turn-Up Patch.....




1 comment:

  1. Lovely photos. Thank you Lord, that according to Your Word, we do not need to fear. Our hope and salvation
    comes through You. I cling to this hope.

    ReplyDelete