I write this week from Camp McDowell in the heart of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. I am here this week for the Spring meeting of the House of Bishops. Today was Day 2 of our meeting and it was dedicated to receiving a report from our Presiding Bishop (his First Address and Report to the HOB). The PB shared with us the ongoing work of “Realignment” of the structures of the Episcopal Church Office. The key points that I heard were: 1. The Mission Priorities as defined by General Convention remain the same. Realignment is intended to establish structures that more effectively and efficiently support the expression of these priorities at the Diocesan and Parish level. 2. The vision is a more unified Episcopal Church that is better networked and able to share resources. 3. Everyone wants change, but when it comes time to make a decision to change, nobody wants change. The Holy Spirit is calling us and will accompany us in change, especially when we as an institution and as individuals are changed more and more into the likeness and life of Jesus Christ.
Today was also the First Day of Spring. Here in Alabama, there are daffodils and Red Bud trees blooming. It is a joy to walk outside and smell the sweetness of the earth awakening from winter slumber. There was even the cautious song of birds in the air this morning.
It was the perfect setting for our session on Contemplative Prayer and the practice of the Benedictine Way. The Benedictine Way, in simplest terms, is a three-fold way of living based on: Contemplative Prayer; Welcoming and caring for the poor and marginalized; and Living as a community of hope so well that people are drawn in to share and participate in this way of hope.
At our Diocesan Convention in Juneau two years ago, I challenged us to be communities of hope in this world. Hope is at the core of our life. But often we get true hope confused with the selfish form of hope–the sort of hope that we might have felt as a child when we hoped for a bicycle under the Christmas Tree, hope that we feel when we anticipate something good or some reward.
The weakness of this personal hope is that it is only as deep as our personal desires, and its fullest expression rarely goes beyond our feelings. Eventually, we may learn in life that this sort of hope often leads to personal disappointment–hope denied, this hope is lost.
This fragile, personal form of hope so easily lost is not the hope we need. It is not the hope that has the power to carry us through the darkest hours and most vulnerable crises of our faith and life. In those moments–at all moments of life, the only hope we can rely on is God’s hope, Jesus’ hope, for us and for the world. God’s hope is the Kingdom, and this hope is the source of life that sustains us and calls us to loving and hopeful service. This is the hope that sustains us and empowers us even in darkest times.
God’s hope sustains the life of the world and sustains the vision of the Kingdom on earth as in heaven. This is the hope we have been given and it cannot be denied. Grounded in God’s hope for us, committed to working for God’s hope–God’s Kingdom, we are able to offer and share this hope to the world.
The world needs our hope–the power of God’s hope for the world.
God’s hope never dies. And while the light around us may seem dim or the season cold and bitter, while the roar of selfishness, violence, and injustice may seem to overpower songs of peace and justice, God’s hope for us, Jesus’ hope for us and all creation, is new every moment. Spring comes. God’s hope for us breaks open every tomb and strengthens us to hold on, to strive and serve, the vision and promise of the Kingdom of God.
