Touched by Hope

Beauty moment revealed through this avocado sprout from
 a seed planted by my mother

I like blindly flipping through pages of books.  This to me is one way through which the Spirit draws me to Itself. Last night's bedtime reading led me to a chapter entitled, The Encircling Rainbow, in Joyce Rupp's Fresh Bread: And Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment. Here, Sr. Joyce spoke of hope in the context of the story of Noah's Ark. She also shared the three things that keep hope alive in her heart: beauty moment which she described as those that "can rekindle my hope in the goodness of God"; truth touches, i.e., "those inner stirrings that continually remind me that life is worth living and that God's promises are true"; and value bonds, i.e., those relationships that give encouragement in dark moments, those that are shared with others whose values and longings are somewhat similar to one's own.

This morning, unlike most of my mornings lately, I woke up feeling a little more positive and kinder to myself.  Since, it was raining hard, I decided not to do the laundry and to linger in bed a little longer than usual to savor last night's reading. I was sure the rain would last throughout the weekend.

To my surprise, when I looked outside my bedroom window a couple of hours later, the rain had let up. The sun shone a little shyly at first and more brightly later. I had my own "truth touch" as I thought about how the seemingly endless storms in my personal life and in the life of our nation have an end somehow.  I might even be pleasantly surprised that the storms could be over sooner than I had thought possible. This was Yahweh's promise to Noah after the deluge. This is God's promise to me, doubtful though I may be sometimes (or is it oftentimes?).

Sr. Joyce's poem at the end of the chapter touches me to the very core.

the demon of discouragement 

trips me up in hectic times,

takes my heart apart

and dumps out all my hope. 

the demon of discouragement 

points fingers at my weakness,

jaws his mouth at all my errors

and threatens to undo me. 

the demon of discouragement 

despises rainbows, relishes rancor,

fights to hold my moody darkness 

and loves to see me weary. 

the demon of discouragement 

fails to have the last laugh, though,

for I've too many people of promise

whose loves outlast my struggles.