Bookends of Hope

 



Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.  

—Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History  


I offer bookends of wisdom to brace me and hold me in a place of hope no matter the disorientation. May we remember this notion of time and salvation that we not feel resigned to accept defeat or fear; rather may we rekindle that hope which does not disappoint. I am trying to hold an orientation not measured by winning and losing but by sparks of love and grace. 


So let me become attuned to Niebuhr’s reminder of the fallacy of immediacy and retune to the cosmic hope “come what may; cost what it will.” Let me align myself with grace…


Steven Garnaas-Holmes assists with the other bookend:

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.


             “Please, God...”

We plead for God to intervene,
even “just this once...”
But I don't think that's how God works:
the Holocaust would have been a good time to do so.
No, God doesn't stop the tyrant,
or nudge the car on the icy road.
God is not a Big Guy with a magic finger
he deploys now and then (but not always).

God is the Love at the heart of all being,
as constant as gravity, infinitely attentive,
and can't be more present or active than right now.

When we ask for God's help,
what we mean is to align ourselves
with the great power of God's grace already at work.
Like musicians in perfect tune,
we create harmonics, notes that sound
though none of us is producing them.
Our harmony with God creates an energy field
that does indeed change things.

In troubled times it takes great concentration
to align ourselves with grace instead of force,
with love instead of fear.
We begin by allowing ourselves to be loved,
along with all the rest of Creation,
and then we fall into that love,
and let that love flow through us into the world.

I think that's what we mean when we pray,
“Please, God…”



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