(This post is not nearly as random as it may seem. If you're confused, read the comment section of this post first.)
I am drawn to Harry Potter, Barack Obama, Josiah Bartlett, and Jesus all for the same reason: they give me hope. Obviously there may be some qualitative differences in my feelings towards these people/ characters/ Deity, but you get the picture. Hope wins me over every time.
It's Good Friday, and I told Asher the Gospel today in the car. Part of it, anyway - the part about love and sacrifice and the crucifixion. We'll save redemption for Sunday. It was a brief conversation. In response, he pointed out a flag over McDonald's. I took this to mean he was ready to move on to other topics.
And this is how hope is, really. We don't talk about it but we need it. The Caedmon's Call line comes to mind: I want you like a hole in the head, but I need you like a meal and a bed. More and more, I admire people who can hold on to hope in the midst of dire circumstances above anyone else. Hope is dangerous, and hard, and precious. And no one can find it for us. Like Ron Weasley says, that's what makes it a quest. You must discover it for yourself.
Harry Potter reminds me that, in the end, love wins over power. Josiah Bartlett reminds me that idealism is not the same as naivety. Barack Obama makes me believe cynicism has not yet won. And Jesus gives me the hope of redemption. They aren't the same, not even close, but they all have hope in common.
Thanks be to God.
3 comments:
This was a great post. (the part about Asher and the McDonalds flag was amazing). I just made lane PAUSE the west wing so I could read this post to him. I know about Josiah Bartlett, Barack Obama, and Jesus. I never read Harry Potter but my little brother has the first several books. I think I'm going to ask to borrow them.
Hope wins me over every time too.
Yes, nice post. You are right about hope: you can only find it for yourself, even though people are always trying to give it out with words of encouragement or invitations. I have been so without hope at times that others' words of hope only irritated me - not fun. Reminds me of an old saying I remind myself of often "The harder you fall the higher you bounce." It always cheers me up in bad times because I can look back at times I was hopeless and say, "Has my God EVER forsaken me?" the answer is always NO. That is my hope's definition.
Loved this post. I hope you're having a fabulous Easter weekend.
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