HOPING FOR HOPE

     It’s been a long time since I have used my blog, so I’m not sure I still have anyone interested in reading it. If not, I guess it’s good exercise for my brain anyway. Since the last time I wrote, I have added a few years to my age—I’m now 82. I remember thinking that that was very old, and I haven’t change my mind on that, per se, however on many days, I don’t feel “very” old. What I have noticed is that aging is more than just a physical experience, it also involves a transformation of your whole psyche. 

     In these very trying times right now with social and political upheaval as the primary environment for the living of these days, it is difficult to  remember that there have been days of our lives when HOPE was alive and well—when we were not so afraid of what might happen next or tomorrow or next week or for many years to come. That wasn’t a naive  way to look at life—it was quite feasible.

     Things have drastically changed. Both the social and political areas of life have been infested with a mean spirited, self centered, greedy and self righteous attitude. Watching the news is detrimental not only to one’s personal well being psychology but to the hope of having HOPE emotionally and spiritually—which is a sad state of affairs. 

     For those of us who profess Christianity as our faith, the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are based on the birth of a child who came into the world to bring to the WHOLE human family the good news that God is love, and a love that is not restricted to certain people. The mere suggestion that God’s love only applies to certain people and not to others, is not just wrong, it ignorant and reveals a COMPLETE ignorance of the message of the Christ child’s birth. 

     There is none of us who are particularly selected as God’s favorite people. We members of the worldwide human family are all included. If we think that our particular beliefs, our nationalities, our politics, our points of view make us more qualified for the LOVE that came down at Christmas, we are gravely mistaken. 

     My personal prayer is that we can be forgiven for our ignorance and self-righteous attitudes with the knowledge that nobody is better than anyone else—not more loved and not more worthy.

I pray for HOPE to be reborn in all our hearts and lives because Love came down at Christmas. May it be so.