Hope Awakened
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” Mk 13:33-37
Today’s Gospel compels us to be on our toes, to stay alert, to stay awake and to watch. Easier said then done in these short days of late fall and early winter. Like many, I love to sleep a little later, take a nap or snuggle up earlier. Add the stress of this time of COVID and the increased need for restoration or the simple lack of activity and you can guarantee that if I take the Gospel at face value, I’m out of luck. Thankfully, I think there is more to it.
At church this morning, I witnessed an interesting exchange between two women. I am not sure, but I think one had just suffered a loss of some kind. When one woman said to the other, “I’m so sorry, how are you doing?” and the other woman just answered, “Well, I was able to get out of bed and on my feet this morning, so whenever I can do that, I am doing good.”
I don’t know the story behind the initial question and I don’t really need to because I know the spirit behind the answer. It is something we have probably all felt, (maybe some more intensely), but it was gratitude for just being alive, even when brought low.
It was resilience.
It was hope.
Hope, during this most confusing and confounding time. Hope, as we watch our society suffer at the hands of this virus. Hope, as every day brings some new question about tomorrow. HOPE lives.
Hope gets out of bed, one foot at a time. Hope engages a stranger kindly. Hope wears a mask while feeding the hungry. Hope believes in the experts and follows their directives. And Hope knows that God keeps promises.
But hope has to be nourished and I think this is where this Gospel is going. If we are not attentive, if we are not awake, if we do not watch for God how will we know to hope? It is only through attention to grace in the moments of our every day that we are able see that God is in all of it. ALL OF IT.
Hope is a garment that we choose to wear as we walk through the world because if we don’t, who will? If we don’t, how will people know that we are a people of hope?
It’s an interesting thing, this hope. It tells us even when things seem darkest, that they will get better. From the beginning of this virus, we were seeking a vaccine. We knew there was a way out. We knew this because we have hope. I believe in it’s efficacy because I have hope. I believe it will be distributed fairly and timely because I have hope. I have hope in my fellow man and his good intentions just as I hope they have hope in mine.
It’s a cycle. Hope begets hope begets hope begets hope. But it requires nourishment, attention, awareness and presence.
This Advent may you awaken like you haven’t before the the magnificence of God’s love for you and for all of his creation. May you walk away from anything or anyone that tells you there is no hope.
