Barreling on through the last days of 2019, I am out of breath, but not out of hope. Even adjusting for the blurriness of my recall of events of this fast moving last year, I know God answered a lot of prayers – even as He gave me a few more matters to keep in conversation with Him.
I started this year hoping to become a more diligent reader of the Bible. Well, I read Scriptures, but not always so diligently.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
God willing, I have hope I will do better in 2020. Not to prove anything, but to enjoy God’s presence through the window of His word in a world that doesn’t believe He’s real.
Finally this. If you look at a window, you see fly-specks, dust, the crack where Junior’s Frisbie hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. ~ Frederick Buechner: The Bible without Tears
This time last year, I knew I had packed on too many pounds. But I dreaded the prospect of doing anything about them. What I wanted to do, I hadn’t; what I wanted not to do, I did!
Then, with the goading and support of friends, I was able to do something about a few of those extra pounds. And I have hope to keep on keeping on.
Hope that God gives is such a tonic. Today, HOPE is useful choice, especially the day after celebrating God’s most Hope-Full gift.
Yes, I know [some of] what’s going on in the world, even if I’ve placed myself on news-restricted diet. Nor, am I channeling an inner Pollyanna, sugaring-coating the bombs that keep going off in the lives of those I love.
A lot of the Ho-Ho-Ho’s sound like Whoa-whoa-woe! It’s as crazy- mean a world as it was this time last year. But in the midst, I will remember God was good, on time, surprising, and comforting even if sometimes, at the time, I did not think so.
So, I choose hope—especially that He is not leaving us to our own devices, electronic or otherwise!
Jim Denison packaged a few zingers about my choice today:
Gabriel Marcel noted that “hope is for the soul what breathing is for the living organism.” G. K. Chesterton added: “There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.” Samuel Johnson observed: “The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.”
The one that caught my eye though was
A new study reports that drinking four cups of coffee daily could reduce weight gain from a diet high in fat and sugar. (Jim Denison: Experiencing the Hope of Christmas )
Working on my third cuppa coffee –(because yesterday, after all, was CHRISTMAS) let me close with Solomon’s take on living in hope, as I hope God blesses you with all you need to carry on:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life, Solomon said. But, he added, He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded. ( Proverbs 13:12-13)
Another reason for hope is one man’s science is another man’s definition of a MIRACLE!
a reason for HOPE, right?
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