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What are you hoping for? (2 March)

The thought this week was written by Beth Powney, EBA Regional Minister

Today you will probably cook and toss your pancakes as the traditional symbol of Shrove Tuesday, a symbol of indulgence and clearing out of your cupboards before the fasting of Lent begins.  Perhaps that is far removed from us now, although some of us may have the tradition of ‘giving up’ something for Lent.  Whatever our rituals or intentions, it is the time, when we, with Jesus set our faces towards the cross and consider anew the journey he took and all that this has meant for us and for all eternity.

Pondering this made me think about what we may be hoping for in this Lenten period?  This is a question which can be received on so many different levels. Personally for my life, personally for my family, personally for my ministry; for my church or community and then of course the  theme which is dominating us right now, the hope for war to not escalate across Europe. In fact this raises a greater a cry in our hearts for all wars to cease and for all those caught up in these conflicts to be loved and protected.

As Jesus took the journey towards the cross, he was in a land of oppression ruled by aggressors, he knew only too well of a world without peace and racked by war and conflict.  So he steadily walked toward the cross, the place of great pain and suffering but also the beginning of the end of all pain and suffering, ultimately this is where our hope rests.

So bearing all this in mind, I return to the question: what are you hoping for in this Lenten period?

Perhaps this poem/prayer may resonate with you and be something you could meditate on further before God:

Hope nonetheless,

Hope despite,

Hope regardless,

Hope still.

Hope where we had ceased to hope,

Hope amid what threatens hope,

Hope with those who feed our hope,

Hope beyond what we had hoped.

Hope that draws us past our limits,

Hope that defies expectations,

Hope that questions what we have known,

Hope that makes a way where there is none.

Hope that takes us past our fear,

Hope that calls us into life,

Hope that holds us beyond death,

Hope that blesses those to come.

[ taken from – Rough Translations Circles of Grace by Jan Richardson]

Finally – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13