Food for the Journey
November 12, 2020
Pastor Dianne O. Loufman
This morning I sat in bed taking a dozen photos or so of the sunrise. It started as a slim orange ribbon that widened into a broad band of red, orange and yellow. Then the sun appeared – a glowing red orb but only for a moment before the clouds encroached and then covered it up. To all appearances, it was gone!
I thought “that’s what life feels like right now.” Glimpses of beauty and hope and then they’re gone. Kids were in school, making their way in the new reality and now they are home again. Mike was having in-person choir practices with hopes of singing outside on Advent Wednesdays. We thought, “great; we’ll invite others to join in and make that the heart of our Advent mid-week worship.” But the clouds of COVID have moved in with a vengeance and that no longer seems advisable. The election was over and I thought we could move forward as a nation but the clouds have moved in and covered that hope up and different people make out different things through the clouds.
I am simultaneously reminded of two things: our hope is not in earthly things that may or may not turn out the way we have set our hearts on; and our hope though sometimes hidden, is always there. It may be overshadowed by other things and our vision might become clouded, but the hope we have in Christ is not dependent upon what we can or cannot see. It is dependent upon the faithfulness of God who like the sun this morning, may not be apprehended by the human eye, but is still and always there.
Ever-present One, even when we are having trouble seeing you, help us to live in response to the hope that comes from and indeed, is you. Amen.