Moments of despair, where in lies our hope
By Rev. Laurie Hill
St. John United Church of Christ

[April 11, 2022]  What would you be thinking if you were trapped under a building waiting for help to arrive?

Many of us, I believe, would be examining the proverbial recounting of our lives. Perhaps we would be evaluating it due to the threat of impending death. It’s usually at times of that particular threat level that we begin to assess the time we’ve had on earth.

Did we live a “good” life?

Did we tell those we love that we love them enough?

Have we told them lately?

Were we able to finish at least some of the things on our “bucket list?”

And perhaps we’d be worrying about how our families would carry on without us. Undoubtedly, our brains would be active in thought, but our spirits would be active in hope.

That’s one of the best lessons arising (pun intended) from the Easter story. There is always hope because there is always resurrection from death, from despair, from chaos, from earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear disaster. Because Christ rose from ultimate rejection, horrible abuse, and a tomb of a horrible place, so can we. That doesn’t mean the end of suffering while we are here, but it means the end of suffering in vain. It means the end of suffering for no good reason.

It means that we can choose to live meaningful lives, even when floating away in a river created by a torrential storm that is taking our homes away.

How could that suffering be meaningful?

After every disaster in this world, whether national or local or personal, there is a story of how hope appeared and created possibilities from impossibilities. Something good rises above the bad. The economy may be tanking and at the same time, many are becoming better stewards of our resources.

Politics may be continually partisan, and at the same time, many are finding common ground. Disasters ravage the earth and at the same time, heroes arrive on the scenes willing to seek out lost and bring them back to desperately worried families.

We all age and with that comes aches and pains, and at the same time, we are flooded with love filled memories and are able to share the wisdom of experience. We are bullied at school and at the same time, we find the center of our bravery and courage and are able to rally forces to stop the bullies in our lives. We are just having a bad day and at the same time, we know that tomorrow will get better and that since we have love in our lives, we truly are blessed.

Yes, if I were stuck in the rubble of a building, I’d be thinking hard of my loved ones and my spirit would be hoping hard for someone to find me. Yet, I would know that even in death, my Spirit would live and soar into eternity because of my faith in the risen Christ.

Rise again, Jesus Christ! Rise every day in our Spirits!

Rev. Laurie Hill
St. John United Church of Christ
"Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself."