As the calendar pages roll ahead to a brand new year, we wonder what our future holds.  I mentioned in my previous column that what we are living in is the reality of the remnant.  Those left behind by the death of loved ones, the death of systems and structures that no longer serve us well, broken relationships and promises and on and on and on. So how do we live in this new reality and what does our future hold for us?

I would propose that this is the ideal time for practicing a new hope!  Ahhh … maybe you have heard that before! (Just take a look through the pages of this issue of the Northern Illinois Conference Reporter.)  Ways to find renewed hope in places that have appeared to be so desolate.  Maybe you heard the words from Isaiah or Luke about preparing a way in the wilderness/desert for something new to happen?  Our lives should always exemplify this notion of practicing hope and not just during the Advent season.

We live with, worship, and serve a God that always presents us with new opportunities and new challenges.  The opportunity to look at all that life gives us from a new perspective … with hope and not despair.  Our everyday living and breathing and encountering of others present to us new opportunities to be in relationship with God’s creation.  When we practice hope, we see the possibilities of newness, no longer stuck in a place that feels depressing and desolate.  Practicing hope means that we begin to look with new eyes at our everyday encounters and see new possibilities.

Where are the places that you have felt “stuck” with no way out?  Begin to practice hope.  When are the times you have felt alone or hurt by others?  This is a time to practice hope.  What will become of our churches and/or our homes as well as what we experience as worship and service to others?  This is definitely a time to practice hope.

Practicing hope means seeing in new ways with new eyes through a new lens. This is the promise we receive and are reminded of in the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness:” “Morning by morning NEW mercies I see.”  The “newness” the day offers is for all of us! How will you join me in practicing hope?