A Recipe for Hope: Adjust Accordingly.
It’s a question we all wrestle with: How do you hold on to hope in a world so overrun with injustice and inequity?

2023 was such a tumultuous year that I have heard from many that they feel almost frightened or foolish to hope that things in their world will be better in 2024.

I know in the year past I have been alarmed and frightened by how much vitriol I see. It has been very hard not to get lost in the chaos and it takes strength not to dwell there.

As with so many, I yearn for peace and stability and a lot less anger and hate, but I know I cannot achieve those things on my own. For many, remaining hopeful feels like a useless place to put their energy, but they
don’t want to be hopeless.

As Krista Tippett suggests, hope is like a “muscle” that strengthens the more we use it. As in weight training, its practice can stretch and strain us but, ultimately, can help us grow stronger.

Emily Dickinson’s poem seeks to remind readers of the power of hope and how little it requires of people.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
The sermon will shine a light on the virtue of hope from many different perspectives. Its intention is to explore how to keep hope alive during trying times.
-Rev. Diane