Wednesday Word: Hope

“Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning . . .” BCP 115

This is part of one of the options to begin Evening Prayer and it is probably my favorite beginning. The whole verse is taken from Amos 5:8, and it goes on to proclaim the wondrous power and glory of the Lord.

It's always hard for me to pick a favorite anything, because I tend to like a lot of different things in different ways and at different times. Things like, “What's your favorite food?” or, “What's your favorite Beatles song?” or, “What's your favorite place?” are always problematic for me because it depends . . . what time of year is it? What's my mood at the time? What's happening in the world? All of these factor into making the choice difficult.

“Here comes the sun,” is up there on that list, but that plays better after a long, cold winter than in June or July. Cannon Beach, Oregon is also up there, and probably very near the top; but driving through the Cascade Mountains after two years of seeing nothing higher than the Sears Tower is also good. And pie . . . well, it's always pie – blueberry cream cheese to be exact.

“What's your favorite scripture verse?” is one of those questions. Where am I spiritually? What's going on? What day is it? All this and more play into that decision. But this one from Evening Prayer is at the top of the list.

In times of difficulty, in times of stress, in times when I'm overly tired and want to just lie down and stop, there's this verse. Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning.

This is a reminder that God is not only the Lord of everything, but that God is all around. It's a reminder to continually seek him, because he wills to be found. It's a reminder that the deep darkness – whether the dark of night or the dark night of our soul – God will turn that darkness into the light of morning. It may take longer than we want or expect, but it will happen.

And for me, in this time of unrest and pestilence, that is something I desperately need to hold onto.

God is everywhere. Let us seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and let us live in hope that the deep darkness will turn to the light of morning.

Be hopeful,

Todd+