Don’t Panic! There is Hope!
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” Emily Dickinson
DON’T PANIC! I see this important reminder almost every day. Its big block letters are displayed on the rear window of a sturdy little SUV parked in my neighborhood. I’ve never seen that car on the road–until Sunday evening. As I was driving home, fretting because the special paper for our new church directories had not arrived last week as promised, there right in front of me was that car with its hopeful sign! “Thank you, God, I got Your message.” And I relaxed. Sure enough the paper arrived Monday morning. Whew! It struck me that DON’T PANIC is the message of Christmas. Panic sets in when we feel like what’s going on outside of us is bigger than what is inside of us. Christmas invites us to see differently. Jesus was totally clear that what happened on the inside is what matters. He made the conscious connection with God as Mother-Father, Creator, Source, Life. In that relationship there is no sickness, no poverty, no cruelty that can overcome any of us. Easy to say, challenging to do. We hear of and see the difficult situations in our country, our community, and the world around us. We face personal difficulties in our own lives, families, and relationship circles. Is it true that in the face of all this we can trust that Christmas promise? Can we have faith that there is a loving Power that lives within us? We can–if we are willing to realize that it’s not situations that are hopeless, but only our own attitude toward them. When we are willing to go within as Jesus did, making conscious contact with that loving spiritual Presence and Power in which we live, move, and have our being, we can overcome anything. Christmas starts with hope–the willingness to hold to the possibility of a better day filled with peace and love. Hope–the energy that invites us into the next moment of promise. The first Sunday of Advent is upon us–we’ll be lighting the candle for Hope.
In the Love and Light of the Christ,
Rev. Anna
