Delivering Hope

That is the name of my book, but it is also my outlook in life. God delivers hope to us even in the darkest of circumstances. Sometimes, human suffering is internal, sometimes external — often both. When we cry out to God, he is faithful to rescue us. It is not always how we expect, though. Some of God’s people expected the Messiah to lead them in a physical battle, but instead, he was crucified, defeating death and ushering in the Promised Land in a spiritual sense. However, don’t get too caught up in the intangibles; his death was real and physically, tangibly painful, and his resurrection from death was just as real and physical. He even ate with his disciples in his new body.

While here, we want fulfillment of basic human needs: food, shelter… love, affirmation. Yes, I don’t care who you are or how jaded life turns you; you have a human need for affirmation. Don’t let cynics teach you otherwise. God loves you. God created you. God does not create junk. I had a shirt that said that when I was a child, but I did not actually believe it. Humans told me I was trash, and so I believed them instead of God’s calling on my life. Be careful how you treat people. Be careful when you are dismissive of them. Jesus died for those people you treat with your hate or your so-called “tough love.” If you don’t know how to respond to someone who makes you want to be dismissive — e.g. a person who calls themselves transgender and is trying to force a political agenda down your throat — I suggest you take a step back and pray. God knows more than you do, and realizing that is the first step towards wisdom.

The last rose of summer…
And now the sun has turned to rain…
And the rain to snow.

Yes, snow is incredibly difficult to capture on camera. All of this weather took place in the space of a few minutes. It is still snowing. Whatever you do, praise God in all seasons.

9 thoughts on “Delivering Hope”

    1. That’s what I mean by take a step back and let the Holy Spirit guide you. We are in a spiritual battle. Some of those people pushing evil agendas have given themselves over to evil. Others are traumatized people who can be reached through compassion.

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  2. We got snow in Pittsburgh for a hot second, then it was nothing. It was early in the morning, too, so you didn’t even really see it. I actually like it when it really snows and it’s dark. It’s a singular kind of beauty.

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  3. Pied Beauty
    BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
    Glory be to God for dappled things –
    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
    Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
    Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
    And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

    All things counter, original, spare, strange;
    Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
    He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
    Praise him.

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