A Glimmer of Hope

Plant sprouting up after a long winter

A GLIMMER OF HOPE

“There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.”  – Clare Booth Luce

I Corinthians 13:13
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love…”

Easter is indeed a season of hope.  For Christians around the world, the resurrection story provides hope and comfort, despite the ever looming darkness in this world.

Whether one celebrates Easter or not, it is undeniable that human beings need hope.
And a little hope goes a long way!  Sometimes just a little “sign” or symbol can fill replace our doubt-filled hearts with hope.  Let me give you an example:

When Pam and I first learned that we would be house bound (actually “apartment bound”) because of the threatening Covid-19 virus and that it would be a long process before things would ever return to normal, I felt quite discouraged.  But I decided to make the best of it and embarked on some household chores.

First order of business was to clean up and set up our balcony so that we could at least enjoy some nice weather and scenery as the weather warmed up.  I had left some planters on our balcony over the winter.  The plants had all died (or so I thought) and I had stashed them in a corner so that I could re-use the pots the following Spring.

As I cleaned up the pots and removed the dead plants, I noticed one pot had a tiny green cluster in it.  WHAT??  Something had survived the winter?  I hadn’t even covered them up!  They were out there exposed to the cold biting wind of winter!

The instant I saw that little cluster of green, I felt warm inside.  I felt … HOPE!  I thought to myself, “If a tiny plant can endure the harshness of the dark, cold winter… certainly we can get through the difficult time we are going through!”

With the coming of warmer days, the plant is actually growing now.  I hope it takes over the entire pot!  But you see, sometimes just a little spectacle, some sign, or symbol can give us the glimmer of hope we need to go on.  It doesn’t take much.  Just a glimmer.

REFELECTION QUESTION:
Is there something you have seen during this “Corona Crisis” that has given you some HOPE?
OR
Is there some symbol or emblem that is your “go to” source of hope?