Springtime
Spring seems to have come earlier this year with record high temperatures. Of course, we are in Scotland, so we are still waiting for someone to push the ‘destruct’ button – it’s all too good to be true. Well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t! Hope springs eternally.
What we wish for
We all have natural hopes, for ourselves, our family and friends. We hope for health and success, while knowing that life is not always a bed of daffodils, never mind roses. There is nothing wrong with hoping for physical benefits. Our faith is rooted in the world of the wideawake, and the goods of this world come from God.
It’s our attitude and subsequent decisions that are important.
Consolation and Desolation
When things are going well, we naturally forget the bad times. What we’re not so good at is that, in the bad times, we must remember that we were happy once and can be again. When our plans go the way of the pear, we believe that it is the eternal hope of Christ’s Spirit that re-energises us and picks us back up again.
It is the same Spirit that directs us to share our joy in good times rather than keep it to ourselves. The Spirit gives us balance and doesn’t allow us to get carried away by either our success or our failure.
Are we there yet? Yes.
Our reflections have been about living in the here and now with hope in our hearts. A hope built on the faithfulness of God, no matter our failings or the vicissitudes (love that word) of life.
We are with God always and, so, we arrived in the Kingdom some time ago. The more we look and listen, the more God will reveal himself to us and assure us of his presence.
Hope spurs us on not because it’s based on some wish or pipedream, but because God is faithful, forgiving, and can lead us forward to a world where we shall see his plan for us more clearly.
That’s what Spring, or to use that old English word for Spring, Lent, is all about.
Prayer Suggestion
In Romans, Chapter Five, St Paul tells us, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Why not a few minutes each day just sitting and being calm? In this way the Spirit of God will let you know that God is with you and fill your heart with hope.