The Good, The Bad & The Hope

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. And I was asked to light the candle, the candle of hope.

My family experienced a tragedy the week before Thanksgiving.  One of those moments in life when our joy is turned into mourning, when the future collapses on itself.   My emotions have been all over the place -- grief, sorrow, guilty, shock, anger, dismay -- but in the midst of all the negative emotions, there is also joy, laughter, happiness and hope.  As I was finding out about this tragedy, I was also being contacted about an absolutely amazing opportunity.  It was unexpected and is still a bit unbelievable, that I was personally chosen for it.

[NOTE: Many of you know what both the tragedy and the opportunity are.  I am not naming the tragedy here because it is not my story to tell.  I am also awaiting official, official word so I can make it "Facebook official." If you don't know what's going on, text or send me a message on FB]

I woke up the following morning crying. Crying out of sorrow for the loss, crying out of guilt for simultaneously being excited about my own amazing news. I was also torn, not between the tragedy and the opportunity, but between this new opportunity and another possible one.  To process these things -- the tragedy and the two opportunities -- I turned to my mentor, a lovely elderly Jesuit professor.  He immediately told me to accept the new opportunity, which was not only essentially guaranteed but also the better opportunity.  Then, as I teared up, I told him about the tragedy and how I was struggling not only with the tragedy but specifically with the joy and excitement I was feeling in light of this new opportunity.  My mentor smiled at me reassuringly and simply stated, "The good things in life do not wait for the bad things to pass."

The good things in life do not wait for the bad things to pass! Hallelujah, thanks be to God!

And that is the hope -- that good things continue in the midst of the bad.  More recently, I was listening to a podcast of a sermon a friend gave. One of the many things that struck me was "hope in the mess." Life is a mess. Life is always a mess, no matter how good things are.  And no matter how messy things get, no matter how bad things may be, there is always good, always hope. No matter what, there is always hope in the mess.

The thing about hope, too, is that it requires patience.  We hope for what is not yet real.  We hope for what may yet be.  That "yet" means we have to wait. We have to be patient. We must wait and see. It is our human nature, in the 21st century, to try to hurry up and get there, when in fact part of the process of hoping is that waiting -- waiting to see what will unfold, waiting to see what God may have in store.  Hoping with God, hoping for God, just hoping.

In the midst of tragedy, I hope.
In the midst of opportunity, I hope.
In the midst of Advent, I hope.
In the midst of life, I hope.