Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!!
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
Click here to listen to the familiar story of Thomas read by Sarah Moss.
Click here to listen to some reflections on the reading, and its link with
this week’s theme: Hope.
Don’t forget to continue with your daily gratitude practice.
Instructions are here.
Often hope is confused for naive optimism, like a form of denial. Augustine of Hippo reputedly said,
“Hope has two beautiful daughters.
Their names are anger and courage;
anger at the way things are
and courage to see that they
do not remain the way they are.”
How does this quote alter your understanding of hope?
Visit the Radio New Zealand page and read today’s news. Where do you notice “anger at the way things are”? How might this translate into courage, and then into hope?
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat write, “Hope is a positive and potent spiritual practice with the power to pull us through difficult times. It is usually described with light metaphors — a ray, a beam, a glimmer of hope; the break in the clouds; the light at the end of the dark tunnel. It is often discovered in unexpected places. Hope can be learned with practice. Certain attitudes support it. One is patience … the other is courage … and a third is persistence. We have hope when we can say, all will be well, and we mean it. ”
Today, every time you switch on a light be intentional about practising Hope. Say aloud “All will be well and all manner of things will be well.”
Emily Dickinson wrote,
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
What song makes you hopeful when you hear it? Post a link to our Facebook page.
In response to the 2015 Paris attacks, Omid Safi wrote, “Friends keep asking me where we find hope in these turbulent times. We don’t. We don’t find hope. We generate it. Hope is like sanctity and community. … It rises to heaven from right here on Earth.”
Martin Luther was asked what he would do if he learned the world were coming to an end.
He said, “If tomorrow is the Day of Judgment, then today I want to plant an apple tree.”
What “apple tree” will you plant today?
Click here to be led through The Examen.
Concluding Prayer:
God of opportunity and change,
praise to you for giving us life at this critical time.
As our horizons extend, keep us loyal to our past;
as our dangers increase, help us to prepare the future;
keep us trusting and hopeful,
ready to recognise your kingdom as it comes.
Amen.
