“We live in hope.”
These are the words shared at the close of a conversation
between myself and a hard-working and compassionate person
working in the local community.
We live in hope.
Our conversation came on the back of trying to find help for
families and individuals struggling to get by. People we have
referred to our food bank. Families supported by Homestart. The
deep impact of benefit cuts and benefit changes, such as
Universal Credit.
We live in hope.
That very day I had already spent time with two different people
breathing their last breath on this earth. One surrounded by a
loving family, grieving already. The other with no family on hand.
Life sometimes seems so dark and hopeless, but “We live in
hope”…I kept thinking about this phrase: the idea of actually living,
dwelling, abiding in hope. It reminded me of what Paul says in
Colossians chapter 3 about our lives hidden in Christ and in
Romans 8 about our hope in what we cannot see, yet we know to
be good. We can live in hope because we live in Christ and this
will keep us going…no matter how dark things can seem.
Desmond Tutu once said: Hope is being able to see that there is
light despite all the darkness.
Yours, lovingly, in Christ Jesus.
Gerard.