At our recent Women’s Retreat, we were asked to reflect on two questions around the theme of hope: What is a hope that you have for your formation in Jesus? And what is a hope that you have for the Platt Park Church community?
Such great questions! But first I had to deal with my faulty understanding of hope. I have come to think of hope like a balloon-quickly inflated with enthusiasm and energy, but fragile; the tiniest pinprick can deflate and destroy it. I want to have a hope that is strong, muscular, like an endurance athlete who doesn’t quit when it gets hard.
I have had many conversations with lots of you, and I think my hope is similar to many of yours: I want my experiences of personal devotion to translate into a life that is deeply transformed by love-recalibrated so that love drives my attitudes, actions, words and engagement with God’s beloved humans. And for Platt Park Church? I hope that we can partner with God in new, fresh, and more beautiful expressions of love that show the world the irresistible love of God, the attractive and compelling Jesus who pursues us, and a broader, deeper richer engagement with scripture.
I did a quick word search on “hope” in the Bible, and I noticed a repeated phrase: “Put your hope in God,” or “Put your hope in the Lord.” If we put our hope in him it is safe; if we put it anywhere else, it is subject to circumstances and fears and disappointments that deflate and destroy it. May our hope in God be powerful, contagious, and fruitful!
Carol Schmidt