Hope for Things Unseen

I hate rebukes, it doesn't help when they are deserved.

This past week I received a rebuke from someone I don't know, but on reflection I deserved it. The encouragement was to be "hopeful" and to spread the message of hope to those who need it, and can understand it. The rebuke was so gentle, perhaps not even meant as a rebuke, but it slammed home anyway.

So this caused me to wonder if I had lost hope, or had it been suppressed by bitterness or anger or simple apathy. I couldn't answer right away because to understand this needed aspect of our journey takes deep, personal reflection. Opening the box to our heart is like opening something left for a long time in the fridge, you don't really know what it is (or was) but you are pretty sure you aren't going to like it....no matter how good it was the first time around.

But I squenched up my nose and popped the lid off and found something interesting. Hope was still alive and well, but was coated with a fine layer of resentment. On further inspection, it was discovered that I had allowed this resentment into the container. When you harbor resentment, you allow others to have control over your life. In other words, they win. I hate that, and I hate that I allowed it to happen. And, truthfully, I'm not all that sure how to get rid of it.

So here is my plan..move on. Do the things that make me spiritually well, be aware of the cynicism that hovers like an odor over the container, throw out the bad stuff, cook up a new meal, serve it with a fine wine of companionship, sit back and bask in the glow of fulfillment.
Then hope will spring eternal, as it always has, and always will.

There is great satisfaction in cleaning out the fridge.

Godspeed
Don