Thursday, November 20, 2025

Dear God,

Hope is a remarkable thing!  It can appear suddenly out of nowhere and when it does, it is like the sun that shines bright after a storm.

Right now in our country and world, it seems there is little room for hope.  Daily we are bombarded by ugliness, hatred and lies.  For many people that brings uncertainty and fear.  When such emotions arise, it is hard to imagine there can be anything else.  But hope lingers, waiting to be discovered and received.

The questions we always have to ask is what is hope?  What does it look like?  Is hope a wish list or a practical reality?  Even more, is it trust in something bigger than us, our wants or wishes?

I lived in darkness for quite some time.  Hope felt dead to me.  I couldn't envision there being anything but despair.  But the longer the darkness and desperation remained, the less I wanted something specific and the more I just wanted hope to have something to cling to. Then one day it was like the earth shifted and I shifted too.  Hope rose up within me.  I could breathe again.  Although my situation had only changed a little, I knew I was going to make it because I found hope is a living thing, a light that never goes out.  And sometimes that is enough.

Thank you,

Compassionate God,

for the gift

of your mercy.

Thank you

for every gift

you give.

Thank you especially

for hope,

the light

of the world.

Yours, Andrea