Dear Friends of St. Paul’s,
A surprising image from this week’s passage in Isaiah – a new green plant, a shoot, coming from something that is supposed to be dead, a stump.
New life from something that was not just past its prime.
Hope in unlikely places.
I love Advent. I love the reminders of hope, that contrasts a life that is a mess with the dreams of life with God. I love exploring ways to define hope – it’s not optimism, it’s not positivity. Hope has this substance, not only an ability to see that life could be different but a desire to work toward it.
Isaiah’s vision of this new green shoot offers a vision of a different world from the one Isaiah was living through, one full of the threat of war and take over. He calls for a peaceable kingdom, one that, while seemingly impossible, is worth working toward.
Because hope blooms in unlikely places.
May you see those new blooms in spaces you once thought were dead, no matter what is going on in your own world. May we have eyes to define hope and work for it in our world.
In faith, love, and service,
holly+
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