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The Hope of the World
Hope is one of the themes that we meditate about during the Second Week of Advent. Hope, from a Christian perspective, is a little different than hoping or wishing in the conventional use of the word.
Here’s what I mean. When you were little, did you ever see toy catalogs or multi-page toy advertisements in newspapers? They would be colorful, bright, and emblazoned with the words “The Christmas Wish Book”. They were awesome. You could look through them and identify the toys you wish Santa would bring you. Wow, look at that Easy Bake Oven! Did you see the Nerf Ball set? Gee, I sure wish Santa would bring me Rock ‘m Sock ‘m Robots or even a pony!
As children we would wish and hope that Santa would brings us something really special. Not much has changed as adults. We often find ourselves wishing and hoping. Sometimes, we hope that things or that people will change. Or perhaps, even on a larger scale, we hope for peace between political groups, or countries. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all got along?
The hope that we cultivate during Advent is a little different: it is the confident belief that God is faithful and that He will complete what He has begun. He keeps His Word. As St. Paul says in his Letter to the Hebrews (6:18-19)
“..it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us: 19 which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and stedfast …”
This hope is not an anxious wishing for something to happen. It is a confident expectation that God’s purposes are and will be fulfilled! Christ Jesus is the Rock on whom we anchor our souls with hope.
On this note, here’s a beautiful peaceful hymn that was recorded during the Pandemic and social distancing, Jesus, Hope of the World.
+The Anglican Anchoress