It is hard to ignore what happened over the weekend largely due to the media’s endless reporting. There has been a FB entry I have heard about (since I am not on fb) that is supposed to have come from Morgan Freeman, in which he says to stop listening to the media. Hmmmm, maybe that is not all that bad of advice. Be that as it may, I was listening to Air1 while working out Monday and several times they asked us to pray for the victims’ families and all those associated with the school tragedy. Mr. Parker, whose 6 year daughter was one of the victims, spoke of hope and forgiveness. While I don’t/can’t espouse his theology, I do agree with the need for forgiveness and hope. It is HOPE that rang out to me as I was working out. It is also the word HOPE that drew me to write this post.
FEAR STEALS…HOPE GIVES!
This is the time of year we should be putting up Christmas trees, lights, listening to carols, looking forward to Christmas break, visiting relatives, and (you fill in the blank). But instead, we are wrapped up in a tragedy. Tragically (or is it amazingly) we will react like Daniel’s post talks about. While you are at it, read this one from my friend, Craig. I agree with both of them, just so you know. We will soon forget the tragedy and go on our merry way. We will curse the state of our country and take potshots at current and past administrations, but know there isn’t much we can do (except what Craig suggests). And the ugly truth is what has been stolen most from so many lives in one monstrous act has been HOPE. Many will live their lives in fear from this day on. In Newtown. In Spencer. In Big Town, USA. In Small Town, USA. Parents will withdraw their kids from school seeking to protect them from “crazies.” Many will go out and get an arsenal for protection (I am not against guns, although I don’t never had one). Many children will be afraid to go to sleep or to school because, trust me, they have heard about this.
FEAR HAS STOLEN A VITAL COMMODITY WE ALL NEED…HOPE.
It has been said,
Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.
If that’s the case, then we better fight for hope. We have one of two choices (as I see it): fight or give up. I know it seems hard right now to fight, but unless we want to lose all reason for living, we must fight. Let me close my thoughts with a quote from Catholic theologian, G.K.Chesterton:
To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.
Pray for the victims…all victims. That would be us. Meanwhile, set your course on HOPE. Any thoughts?
I can tell you from personal experience that living without hope is not living. It is mere existence and drudgery.
Only those who have been there can truly know. Thanks for being open and honest Daniel.
Bill, some have said they will feel guilty celebrating Christmas this year. I can’t go there. With HOPE we can heal and move forward. Without it we willremain stuck in the past.
I can’t either Larry. I couldn’t agree with you more on your comments than I do. Thanks for the thoughts.
You’re right, big brother. Hope is what we need right now.
My weekend was spent talking about all the issues regarding guns. My missionary friends and I share the opinion that at least you need to go through a mental health check prior to being able to get a gun. I don’t mind guns for fun (clay pigeon shooting or something like that), but I was rather appalled when I found out that all you need to get a gun is a document that shows that you don’t have any felonies in the past. Seems rather careless… but anyway…
We do need hope. Like Paul says in Romans 4:18: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” Sometimes that’s all we’ve got… hoping against all hope.
Not sure how it is in Ukraine with guns Zee, but it does seem awful easy. I really don’t know since I have never wanted or tried to get one. But I do agree with your statement “we do need hope.” Good verse also. Thanks.
Over here, to get a gun permit, you need to go through a full medical examination (including eyesight, hearing, mental health, etc) and also you need to collect / fill out a bunch of other documents. Of course, there is black market, but that’s another story altogether.
Also, we’ve been discussing with friends after visiting WWII museum here in Kyiv, everyone in Ukraine / Russia has experienced / was affected by war. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t been affected by it who is local. Guess that gave us a little bit different perspective on guns.
i don’t think our permit-getting is that extensive. I have not heard others talk about those sorts of things.
A friend of mine from TX said that there are even special offers like “Buy this TV and get a gun for free”… (I guess they know you might get extremely angry at the TV and shoot it…)…
I don’t doubt that may be some folks’ modus operandi. Gives me chills (and I certainly don’t like all that is on TV). 🙂
Craig said “If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He died for our sins, then we are fighting the same battle!” I would add that even if you don’t believe we are still fighting the same battle. I think all reasonable people share the same hopes and fears regardless of belief.
I think our country has continually, in it’s short history, evolved into higher moral ground. I think it is as moral today as ever. Do we want to go back to slavery, or to our ethnic cleansing of Indians, or to our gross racial discrimination? We are not there yet but I think we are getting there. I have hope that common sense and reason will continue to move us forward.
I think hope is enhanced and the future improves when we hope together, work together, and reason together. It’s not helpful to get people to work together if we get hung up on who is lost and who is found, or whose God is the right God, or who is more moral than who based on what they believe.
While in some areas (those you mention) I would agree things are better, I can’t agree that we are morally better in other areas. Things we would have never thought would or could see happening are with regularity. I also don’t see reason and common sense being the flag-bearer for moving forward.
I think Scripture says it better (much) than I can.
And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You. Psalm 39:7
Thanks Bro’!
Can’t argue with that Jay.
I have hope. True hope from God which is “confidence.” I know that He is sovereign and the ending is the same. I also have a heavy heart that the lack of a moral compass guides society. The priorities of people seeking to live absolutes in their lives has brought us to the point of reliving the past in humanism… The lost believe man can legislate laws to repair the eroding human condition. I’ll bounce back, but my grieving time is just beginning…
You have stated where my hope is Floyd, as well as my thoughts about the moral compass. (See above comment).
Great post brother. I wear daily a necklace with a circle pendant with the word “courage” stamped on it. Recently I added another pendant engraved with the word “hope”. It reminds me to have courage to share the hope that lives within me. I gave each ladies in our bible study a courage pendant in hopes it will remind them to live the words of James which we recently studied.
I think one reason we are so aware of killing is because of the ability to hear instantly about a killing. When we lived in Bolivia we were 150 miles from the nearest city, no internet, only one phone in a small community 30 minutes from us. We depended on the short wave radio for news. When we got the news it was not flashed before us minute by minute, only our ears heard what our eyes did not see. There were murders in the small communities around us but unless someone came to our school base we never knew it. I was reminded the other day the first murder was not a mass one, Cain killed Abel. Daily one on one killings are happening, those carry just as much grief for families and love ones. I’m not sure I believe things are worst now, what is worst is the news hype which makes us react usually with fear. Mass attracts us, a big plane crash attracts a lot of news, yet people die every day in one on one car crashes. Then there is the hundreds of babies being aborted daily. No hype from the news on that one.
God knows my heart is grieved for any family who has lost a loved one to murder or accident or illness. I pray I would cling so tight to the hope Jesus gives us if I was in the same situation as those loved ones in Ct. My prayers is also for those who know the Lord will have the courage to reach out to those loved ones and give them some real hope. The bible says it is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of eating. There we are reminded of our own eternity. God has given us the Holy Spirit to be sensitive but bold when needed to share the hope within us.
I am very grateful for those of you who have written about the killings. Your thoughts have strengthened me…gave me courage to reach out more.
you are so right about the media overload Betty. Sometimes you have to envy the situation you once found yourself in. 🙂 I too hope that those who know the Lord will reach out and help and not condemn. Thanks for the kind words and taking them to heart. May we all find the courage needed to help.
It’s been helpful in some ways that this tragedy has taken place right before Christmas. It saddens the season, but it also deepens the meaning of Christmas. We become that much more aware of our need for Christ, and that much more hopeful for his eventual return.
It is times like this that we are “forced” to refocus and be more aware of those around us.
Well said, Bill. Thankful for the Hope of the world, who shines even brighter in dark times.
Thanks Stephen. I too am thankful for the Hope of the World.
My thoughts exactly Loren. I love the quote from G.K. Chesteron…wrote it down. I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything over the weekend, it just seemed meaningless to be in a celebratory mood when so many have wounded hearts…then I realized that God wants us to be His hands & feet, we must continue forward spreading the hope. Love the post Bill.
You have the right idea Jan. His hands and feet. Thanks
To have hope is to have faith. As your post expresses, fear is a thief that steals hope which kills our faith. Unfortunately this tragedy will be blamed on everything except what I believe it is a symptom of, and that is the breakdown of the family and a rejection of God.
it will be blamed on many things.
Thank you for helping us focus on our Hope, our Jesus. And thank you for sharing how fear steals and hope gives. God bless you, Pastor Bill, as He leads you into all Hope!
Glad I could do that Deb. praying for wisdom in doing just that.
Love your thoughts here, Bill. Without hope we can’t see the possibilities and we become stuck, regimented, and ultimately broken. Amazing how God built hope into us, but its most powerful application is when our hope is in Him. In that place, we cannot be shaken. Thanks so much.
Hope founded in Him cannot be shaken. So true my friend. Thanks for the comment.