Hope

Julie Jennings

Vice President of Ministry

We have searched for it in our times of need. We have claimed it in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. We have clung to it when we had little else to go on.

In the Christian tradition, Easter proclaims the living hope that death (and all the many forms and forces it takes in our living and our dying) does not have the nal word. As Christians recently celebrated Easter, the Jewish faithful observed another Passover festival of freedom, commemorating the exodus of the ancient Israelites from slavery to freedom and inviting re ection on modern forms of persecution and hope for liberation.

Embedded beneath these religious observances are acts of violence perpetrated against individuals and entire groups of people. Torture, humiliation, betrayal, excruciating capital punishment, bondage, and forced labor serve as the backdrop for two of the most victorious and hope- lled religious stories ever told.

It is easy to look past those harsh truths and focus on the ends of the stories: resurrection and new life as freed people. The thing is, the ends of these stories more often than not signal beginnings for we who hear them. And, as stories go, they often have a way of repeating themselves if we are not attentive to their details and intentional in our response to them.

So how do we live into the hope of new beginnings promised in these religious stories? We might take our cue from another world religion about to observe a major festival. Muslims will celebrate the month-long Ramadan, beginning April 12. Ramadan is a period of intense selfexamination and spiritual devotion aimed at drawing closer to God and cultivating self-control, gratitude, and compassion for those less fortunate.

Whether we are individuals, congregations, or organizations, it is important to take the time and carefully consider how we are living into hope–for ourselves, for those who depend on us now, and for future generations. It is also important to summon the courage and examine how we might be perpetuating demeaning attitudes, participating in systems that bene t the few at the expense of the many, and postponing the steps we could take to create needed change.

As we consider and examine, let us remember the God who su ers with the su ering, who leads us from death to life, and who remains close to us as we brave new beginnings.

And let us hope.