Hope in a Manger

Two days ago we learned that my brother-in-law in California passed away. It has already been a difficult holiday season but receiving that news created a vacuum in our hearts. He spent the holidays with us last year here in Tennessee and this past spring we spent a few meaningful days with him in Simi Valley California.

And so once again this aching grief knocks on our door. Grief has been too frequent a guest these last two years and it compounds with each loss. We now feel a bit like a sailboat that sits motionless in the ocean. We lift our heads toward the sky facing the sun and wait for a force that is greater than us to carry us to our next destination. 

It starts as the slightest breeze -- just enough to warrant the raising of our sail. The tiny ripples of water near the hull of our boat reminds us there are still destinations on our horizon.  This invisible force will carry us forward.

Hope is not a conjured up emotion or mere optimism. It is a divine gift as mysterious as the wind that blows where it will. Hope is the cleft in the rock that protects us from the raging storm. Hope is the door in the desert just beyond the fleeting mirage. Hope. One of the three eternal mysteries, all other gifts will pass but Faith, Hope and Love.

Hope is my anchor and as the prophet Zechariah writes in the Messianic prophecy about Zion. “Return to your fortress you prisoners of Hope” – Hope is my fortress.

Don’t look at the baby Jesus born in a manger through the lenses of a society that has dramatized and commercialized the message. Look at the story through the lenses of an occupied nation where a young couple from rural Galilee return to Bethlehem because of the decree of a Roman Ruler.  

Then in the most unlikely of place a cave where animals lived - a young girl went into labor.  I assure you everything about that moment and place was void of hope and then the tiniest babe, so dependent upon frail humanity,  took his first breath. At that moment the heavens erupted into praise. Peace on earth and Good will towards men. This was to be a game changer. 

May the God of hope fill your hearts. It is this mystery that shall fill the bellows of our hearts this season and carry us to the next horizon. Because in the end these three remain, Faith, hope and Love.

Merry Christmas.

Stump Growth

I recently watched a news story about a project that endeavors to save the amazing Redwood and Sequoia trees for the future. If you've ever driven through the national parks that are home to these trees you cannot help but appreciate the vision of the founder, David Milarch.

In the NBC news clip, the reporter stood in front of a stump that was thirty feet across. The one hundred and thirty year old stump had once been the foundation to a tree that was 'forty stories tall'. Today around the base of the seemingly dead stump, fresh green sprigs grow. The "stump growth" is harvested and taken to the lab, and from this they (clone) and plant new trees.

I know nothing of the man behind the science, or the organization, Archangel, Ancient Tree Archive. But I appreciate their futuristic vision. Long after this generation is gone, another generation will appreciate the fruits of their labor.

In the kingdom of God much of what we are called to do is for the next generation. For them to benefit from the fruit of our vision, we must have hope for the future. We cannot allow the dark clouds of information to obscure our vision. We must hold tightly to 'the substance of things hoped for.' These fast growing Redwood seedlings are the substance of things hoped for.

Life can cut us down and all that is left of our dreams are stumps, but that does not have to be the end. Because God can bring life back to that which has died.

http://www.corbisimages.com

Even in the ancient book of Job we find the same wisdom:

"For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not fail.
"Though its roots grow old in the ground
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
At the scent of water it will flourish
And put forth sprigs like a plant (14:7-9)


At the very scent of water there will be new growth. Have your dreams died? Do you feel as though everything has been cut down, and all that is left is a stump? Lift up your head, look to the One who is the living water.

He is the one who repairs, restores and resurrects. "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice..." (Isaiah 42:3) 

Imagine! The One who conceived of the Redwood and the Sequoia tree; the God of the universe and endless galaxies desires to breathe new life into us. He makes all things new. May His fountains flow over those who have lost hope - may what seems as a lifeless stump flourish into new growth! For the sake of the earth and the next generation. For the sake of His Glory, or as Bach might write, "Soli Deo gloria."