Day 7 - Be open to hope

I know that it's hard to see hope in your life sometimes, but are you really looking? Hope doesn't just come in the form of answered prayers or a perfectly smooth routine. Sometimes hope takes form in a gorgeous day in the dead of winter, a birds nest by your door, stars that shine brightly in the sky, or the miracle of life right before you. The problem with this kind of hope is that you have to open your eyes and accept it into your life. You cannot see beauty if you do not acknowledge it. Sometimes we are so angry or hurt that we keep our eyes down, either afraid or too mad to look around. Or, sometimes we are too depressed to get up and walk outside. But if you can make the step or just look up, you will see hope everywhere.

I have a new theory about God and hope. When things are awful or horrible, God will provide evidence of hope in some way. Over the last few days here in Orange County, some horrific things have happened. I would rather not even talk about them, but we have a serial killer on the loose targeting the homeless, and a death due to spousal abuse that would bring a grown man to tears and fury, just to name two. Let alone, Jessie's passing. And yet, our days here have been in the 70's to 80's with cloudless skies. At night, the stars are more visible than I have seen in a long time with a bright shining moon. It is gorgeous here, to say the least. Do I think it is anything less than God's grace? No, I know they are proof of hope. Proof of love. Proof of God for all of us to see. And yet, maybe it is snowing where you live right now or maybe you have big beautiful raindrops in your front yard. Hope is everywhere; you just have to see it in the beauty of life.

So here is my homework for you. Look around. When you feel depressed or angry, clear your mind and go for a walk. When you feel lonely, listen to the sounds of the world. Maybe your hope won't come so easily, maybe you need to allow the smell of clean laundry to make you feel good. What I am trying to say is to be open to hope and the miracles surrounding you. The small miracles that you let pass by on your busy days. Seeing those miracles, finding beauty, and hearing love are all proof that life is beautiful if you participate. When you have the time to see that life is beautiful, you find hope. Hope in a world where God created things so perfectly that you can't help but see glory and grace all around you.

Be open to hope.