WAITING & HOPE
On the back of my family’s little Christmas postcard I included the well-known phrase from O Holy Night, “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” I am young and ignorant enough to have not known war up close and personal. Or famine. Or massive natural disaster. Or any catastrophic event large enough to pull me into the sense that a large part of my community is enduring a great hardship together. This year I sense it. My weary waiting is not private—it is our weary waiting. It is made all the more painful by the fact that we are in this “together” but we are also not together. And it has connected me with the weary waiting around the world and throughout all history. I am more acquainted now with frailty, with our collective humanity.
In turn, I find Hope a greater thrill than it has ever been before. “For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…Christ is the Lord, praise his name forever.” The Incarnation truly changes everything. It is hope personified, spoken as Word and light, He is our friend and King. Due to the weary waiting of 2020, I am also better acquainted with hope.
As you scroll down you will see the honesty and courage of works of art made by your own community on these themes. There is an essay from a young woman whose mother has fought battles with cancer, bright candles illuminating the darkness, illustrations welcoming the infant King, ukulele music, poetry concerning stars and bells and much more.
But first, here are a few excerpts from the fantastically written liturgy for “Those Who Weep Without Knowing Why” from Every Moment Holy.
You wept.
So moved by the pain of this crushed creation,
you, O Lord, heaved with the grief of it,
drinking the anguish like water
and sweating it out of your skin like blood.
…
For the grief of God is no small thing,
and the weeping of God is not without effect.
The tears of Jesus preceded
a resurrection of the dead.
…
Then let our tears anoint these broken things,
and let our grief be as their consecration—
a preparation for their promised
redemption, our sorrow sealing them
for that day when you will take
the ache of all creation,
and turn it inside-out,
like the shedding of
an old gardener’s glove.
…
Amen.
LEADER:
There is so much lost in this world, O Lord,
so much that aches and groans and shivers
for want of redemption, so much that
seems dislocated, upended, desecrated,
unhinged—even in our own hearts.
PEOPLE: Even in our own hearts
we bear the mark of all that is broken.
What is best in this world has been bashed
and battered and trodden down.
What was meant to be the substance has
become the brittle shell, haunted by the
ghosts of a glory so long crumbled that only
its rubble is remembered now.
…
And yet, there is somewhere in our tears
a hope still kept.
We feel it in this darkness,
like a tiny flame,
when we are told
Jesus also wept.
You can pray the beautiful liturgy in its entirety by clicking here.
Pine Sisken (Finch)
Clara Jacobs
ink
It is Well With My Soul
Gabriel Hodges
ukulele
This is a common hymn arranged by myself for ukulele.
Hope
Melissa Peterson
essay
Hope is a cloak of assurance that keeps us dry when the rains of adversity pound down. Hope is a fortress which gives the inhabitants courage to stand their ground against attack. Hope is knowing with utmost confidence, from your fingertips to the core of your beating heart, that no matter what foe you face, no matter how hard times become, the suffering will end and all will be made right. This end to suffering is prophesied in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4 New International Version). Having hope as a Christian is as fundamental as needing water to drink.
To many people, hope is simply a feeling of desire for a certain thing to occur. If one were to look up the definition, they would find that their idea corresponds to the popular, stale meaning. However, the denotation doesn’t capture in its arms the true, important meaning presented in the pages of the Bible. In the Christian holy book, the Hebrew word “batah” and the Greek word “elpis/elpizo” are translated to “hope”. The meanings of these words in the original language differ from the common definition. “Batah” means to be confident, to trust, and to be secure, while “elpis/elpizo” means confident and joyful expectation of eternal salvation. Within the Bible, Jesus calls us to hope in him, and in the promises he made to us.
If one were to take inventory of a person’s desires, they would find that their fancies shift and change as much as a gale during a storm. As I grew up, I entertained many ideas as to what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first it was a veterinarian, then an author, then a geologist. All of these objectives lasted but a fleeting minute, and none of these careers are what I aim for now.
Waiting for Love to be Born
Jamie Kaihoi
photography
He Brings the Dawn
Jamie Kaihoi
photography
This shares a title with the Gregorian chant Andene brought us during advent last year. The dawn of a new day brings a renewal of hope and the birth of Jesus is the ultimate dawn.
Advent
Cindy Schmickle
poetry
Oh, silver orb
in morning’s
ink-black sky
solitary, brilliant.
Harbinger of hope
second coming
eternal morning
when the long, dark night
of suffering will be past.
At last! Rejoice!
Our Morning Star has come!
On December 21st the first "Christmas Star" in nearly 800 years appeared in the night sky. We look forward to the "bright morning star" spoken of in Rev. 22:16. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The God of Hope
Hannah Ainslie
painting & illumination of scripture
Waiting
Lorri Eiswald
photography
Waiting can be heart-wrenching.
Waiting can be lonely.
Waiting can be frightening.
Waiting can be less difficult if you choose to watch for and expect God's help.
Hope
Lorri Eiswald
photography
Hope is a gift.
Hope heals our grief.
Hope floods our souls.
Hope lifts us up.
Jesus Wept
Justin VanNingen
Any kid who wants to get a sticker in Sunday School for learning a new Bible verse knows the easiest way to get one: Learn John 11:35. It's two words and yet the context is a profound one. The story of Lazarus may be one of his most stunning miracles, but it also shows Jesus waiting to go back two whole days after hearing of his friend's illness. When he returns he mourns with his friends to the point of tears. Yes, Jesus brought him back from the dead, but first Lazaurs's creator waits to weep over his death.
Daniel Amos is one of the original Jesus Music bands from the 70s and one of the few that has continued to record music in the new century. The song presents a weary man waiting for Jesus to act while Jesus reminds him of what he did before raising his friend from the dead: He waited. He wept. (original song can be found here)
Jesus Wept—Daniel Amos
I found my masterpiece
In a discount bin
I pound against the wall
Of my aging skin
Crying “Let me out”
Let me out
Who’ll untie the ropes
That restrain my wings
And help me understand
When death still stings?
I’m crying, “Let me out”
You’re saying, “No, not yet”
Before he danced
Jesus wept
I’m living in the ache
Of missing you
Sealed in this Lazarus grave
With nothing else to do
But cry “Let me out”
Let me out
There’s not a holy man
Who doesn’t know grief well
Or think the road to heaven
Doesn’t pass through hell
They’ve cried, “Let me out”
They’ve heard, “No, not yet”
They know before he danced
Jesus wept (Before the latter rain)
Jesus wept (Before the healing came)
Jesus wept (Before the latter rain)
Jesus wept (Before the healing came)
I Am the Lord’s Servant
Judah Moon
ink
Winning the War Against Hope
Phil Bickel
Every inhabitant on planet Earth is trying to survive a war against hope. Attacks occur on many battle fronts as Satan, the unbelieving world, and our own sinful, fear-filled nature sow despair rather than hope. Although the war is as old as the ages, the conflict intensified in 2020, didn’t it? And it won’t disappear just because the calendar flips to 2021.
Where can people find hope?
Writing to the Colossians Paul says his message was a “mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people” (Col. 1:26 NIV) Today, for many people the Good News of the Bible is still a mystery, a riddle that befuddles, puzzle pieces unassembled.
If you tried to summarize the Good News of the Bible in a slogan brief enough for a bumper sticker, how would you express it? In Colossians 1:27 Paul condenses the Gospel-mystery in this phrase: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Would we ever have summed up the Good News as Paul expresses it? In fact, do we even understand what he means? Or is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” a mystery to us too?
From my Scriptures Sketchbook: Habakkuk 2:3: Wait
Melody Villars
watercolor, colored pencil and ink
From my Scriptures Sketchbook: Ephesians 1:13-14: The Seal of the Holy Spirit
Melody Villars
watercolor, colored pencil & ink
In Ephesians One, Paul writes that we are given Hope through Jesus Christ; we are given wisdom so that we may know our Hope, to which we are called; and to accomplish this we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is our guarantee for all the promises of our Hope. In this picture, I imagined what a physical seal of the Holy Spirit might look like.
Advent
Rebecca Willette
Waiting
John Hardacker
poetry
T h e b a c k a r c h e s a n d t h e m u s c l e s t e n s e
T h e h e a r t q u i c k e n s
T h e c h e e r i n g i n c r e a s e s e v e n a s t h e h e a r i n g o f i t f a d e s
T h e r a c e w i l l s o o n b e g i n
T h e y e a r n f o r t h e b e l l b e c k o n s t h e s o u l
Will the sound carry through the noise?
Y e a r s o f t r a i n i n g s t r a i n a g a i n s t t h e f e a r s o f f a i l u r e
W h i c h w i l l r e j o i c e a t s u c c e s s ?
W h i c h w i l l m o u r n t h e w a i s t e d e f f o r t ?
N o w i s n o t t h e t i m e t o a s s e s s t h e b a l a n c e f o r i t h a s a l r e a d y b e e n t i p p e d
A l l t h a t i s l e f t i s t o n o t i c e
Was that the sound?
The journey is traveled
The race won
The prize already earned
The effort has been measured
What now is left but to believe, to follow the path already laid
To cross the bridge so painstakingly built
Can it be restrained any longer?
The fuse has been lit
The string drawn tight as the bow creaks
Has it been enough?
Will it work?
No time for doubt, no room for fear!
Is this it?
It is now?
The hammer has drawn back, the bell need only be
to read this poem in its original, intentional formatting by the author, click here
A Sketch for the Third Sunday of Advent
Claire Carlson
pen & ink
John 1:29
Elise Bixby
watercolor
The Fullfillment
Pam Keske
watercolor pencil
This was an illustration done for our confirmation class. In this little baby is the fulfillment of the many foreshadowings and prophecies in the Old Testament of the long awaited Messiah, the Hope of the World.