“I can’t give anybody hope. Hope has to come up out of you.” – Wendell Berry
Hope has to come up out of you, Berry says. On this most holy night, Hope indeed came up out of Mary and into the world. He is called Immanuel, the Prince of Peace and he breathed new life for us all. I pray that we who have come to believe can bring up Hope in our lives and in the communities in which we live. Hope is a powerful gift to give and to receive. It is what the world so desperately longs to feel and it is our joy as believers to pass on to others
May this Christmastide be one of joy and wonder as you seek to know this child born of hope and love who resides deep within your soul.
During the next three months, I will be on sabbatical spending intentional time in prayer and reflection upon the gifts of the child that call us into reconciliation. It is in reconciliation with Christ that we become reconcilers in the world. It is the work God has laid at my feet to explore and nurture and I long to experience a deeper knowing of forgiveness and absolution, not only for me but for our community. I want to re-connect with Hope being magnified over the next several weeks.
As our year comes to an end, I continue to pledge my prayers for you as I ask for yours. May God bless us with surprises too great to imagine and for us to give those gifts away.
Blessings,
+Morris