(Photo Credit Unsplash – John Torcasio)
By Marrick Reeve
Hope is something that is practiced every day. When I order food at a restaurant, I hope that it will taste good and come in a timely manner. When I plant seeds in the garden, I hope that they grow and produce flowers and food. When I order something online, I hope it comes exactly as it is described. I like to think of hope as a desired or expected outcome sprinkled with trust. In each of these scenarios, there is a part of them that is out of my control – I’m not in the kitchen making my own food; I can’t control the weather which helps determine if the plants grow; there’s no way to ensure that I’m not being scammed when I shop online. I have to trust that each of these scenarios will come to fruition and will fit my expected outcome.
As Christians, we are called to hope in the promises of the Lord. This life is a pilgrimage towards Heaven. (A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place, and sometimes, the journey is where we learn and grow more than at the destination itself.) This life, this journey, this pilgrimage, is not without suffering. Sometimes, it can be easy to become jaded, to hold back hope, to hold back pieces of ourselves out of fear of disappointment or hurt. God, the Good Father, calls us to more than fear, hurt, and disappointment – He invites us to a life of hope in Him. But what does that look like?
When I was younger, I played flag football. At one of the practices, the coach said, “you play how you practice.” Essentially, we weren’t likely to do anything at a game that we didn’t do at practice – those skills don’t come out of nowhere – they require time and effort, and if we only gave half the effort at practice, our natural reaction would be to give half the effort in a game. It’s something I’ve never forgotten and has helped me in most aspects of my life. If we apply this thought to the spiritual life, it means that we respond to the big things the same way we respond to the little things. If we are consistent in charity, generosity, and kindness in the little moments, we are more likely to be charitable, generous, and kind when the big, emotional, overwhelming moments happen. If we hope in the small things when it is easier to hope, it helps us to hope in the big moments when it feels like all hope seems lost.
Practically speaking? Actively practice hope in the little things. Get excited when you see your server bringing out your food and drinks when you’re at a restaurant. Think about the harvest to come when you plant your garden and all the different things you can do with your vegetables. Think about how beautiful and green it will be in the spring when the winter is cold and grey. Expect the coolness of the morning when the night seems as if it will never end. Find a simple Scripture verse that you can mumble to yourself when hope seems out of reach. If we hope in these small ways, it will make hoping in the resurrection and the life to come so much sweeter.
Marrick currently works as the Youth Ministry Coordinator at Christ the King Parish in Regina. She spent two years serving with NET Ministries (one year in PEI, Canada and one year in Cork, Ireland), and misses being close to the ocean. When she’s not planning youth group, in the schools doing classroom visits, or running retreats, you can probably find her at a local coffee shop or at home working on her calligraphy technique.
