Walking With Hope Into Christmas

As we are preparing for Christmas day and the end of the year just around the corner, I wanted to raise the idea of hope. Hope is a word that has been speaking to me of late, especially in the lead up to Christmas. Christmas reminds us that there is possibility of things being different, lost things can be found and broken things can be renewed. Hope abounds at Christmas in the gifts we hope to receive, the people we hope to see and the love, joy and peace we hope to experience. And yet I know that for many, Christmas can also be a time far from hopeful; it can even be a time of pain, loss and regret.

So how can we walk with hope into the Christmas season, even if circumstances in our lives are far from hopeful? Perhaps we can start by remembering the words Mary Phipher (1996) shared with us from her book The Shelter of Each Other, where she states ‘that Hope isn’t about facts that can be disputed; it’s a choice about how to face adversity’. Phiper (1996) further states that there is no such thing as ‘false hope’ because hopefulness acknowledges both pain and problems and the courage to deal with them equally co-exist.

With these thoughts in mind we can even imagine Hope as a person who is walking alongside us as we face difficult times reminding us that this might be the end of a year that may have not lived up to all our expectations but it is not the end of our story. Hope has a way of suggesting circumstances can change bringing energy and focus even when we are desperate. What does the voice of Hope speak to you? How does listening to the voice of Hope, especially at this time of the year, refresh and energize you and allow you to embrace this season of celebration even in the face of disappointment or fear?

Answering these questions allows us to create a bigger space for Hope in our lives. It gives us pause to reflect and consider the difference it could make to walk with Hope into this Christmas season. I believe one way we can enlarge Hope’s space in our lives is by looking backward over the year and acknowledge our persistence in the face of real and painful challenges. We can recall the acts of kindness we have given and received. We can tell stories to one another that dwell on how we have grown through our challenges in big and little ways and remind ourselves of the lessons we have learned and how we are now bigger on the inside.

And finally we can look forward to the New Year with an open heart because our story is encompassed within His great story and that truly the best is yet to come! Good stories have the power to heal us and lift us up. Hope in our lives feeds our ability to connect with those stories and receive their healing power. So let’s prepare for this season of celebration by sharing our stories and in so doing give room for Hope to grow larger in our lives.