At a craft show, I flipped through an artist’s prints for sale. I stopped when I came across a painting of three birds nestled among the words of Emily Dickinson: “Hope is the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul / and sings the words without the tune / and never stops at all.”
Dickinson’s poem encapsulates the biblical definition of hope: an unwavering expectation of future goodness. How is it possible to maintain such confidence in a world of confusion, disappointment, and evil?
Jesus.
Because Jesus died on the cross as payment for our sins, then rose again as proof that he had conquered sin and death, we can sing the song of redemption and “never stop at all.” The certainty of the Holy Spirit’s presence with us now is goodness that sustains us each day; the expectation of life in heaven forever is goodness we can cling to when all seems bleak and dark on this earth.
Join us for our 2020 Lenten and Easter series, Unwavering Hope. And “may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in ever good deed and work” (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17).
Hope That Moves Us Forward
“Why Do You Stand Here?”
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Note: The artist is Marcus C. Thomas. To read all of Dickinson’s poem, go to Poetry Foundation.