...believing in 'all'

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

---Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923

The blessings of a life with God are many and varied, and this familiar hymn explores lots of them. One verse speaks of the blessings of nature --- the change of the seasons (although I am about done with this ‘all four seasons in just one week’ thing), the constellations in their utterly predictable paths, all of nature witnessing the attentions of a good God with imagination and aspiration.

I will admit to the next verse being my favorite, though, and it’s all about the third line --- “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” God provides for us not only what we need to get through whatever presently troubles us --- worry, sorrow, fear --- but offers us a view of a tomorrow bright with hope. This seems to me the gift that keeps on giving.

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided, indeed.

Pillar of the world

Hope is the pillar of the world.

If you are like me, there are times in life when you need a firm foundation. All around you, because of trouble you have caused, troubles others have caused, or just because of the frailty of being human, the ground gives way. Things you thought you could believe, you now question. Institutions you once trusted, you now doubt. People you thought would be there always, go away. Clouds obscure the sun in the day, and the stars at night.

But hope...hope is the pillar of the world. Hope is invested in tomorrow, and can nourish us through the famine of present disappointment and sorrow. That hope; that hope sustains, strengthens, enables.

Hope holds us up.