Memory and Hope

As memory connects us to what is behind, so does hope connect us to what is ahead.  And in between, we stand in the present.  But, it is a fleeting present.  The hard stone cold hyphen which is etched on the tombstone between the date of birth and the date of death is a mark of compilation of all the present moments that have passed.  The moment between memory and hope is a much more transient moment as it always move from one second to another.  By the time the second hand on the clock has ticked, the present has changed sending another part of our life into memory and moving us deeper into our hope.    

The Word of God speaks much of memory and hope.  The Hebrews were instructed to observe rituals that enabled them to remember their story of deliverance even as the Jesus people who came later were told to remember a holy meal.  And even as the Holy Meal calls us to remember, so does it call to live with hope.  So we live if we live at all.  We cannot really live without the hope of Home which draws us ever forward on the journey of faith.  We are here in the present moment as fleeting as it is, but we are always moving toward what is ahead with hope of the welcoming Christ.   

Memory grounds us and hope carries us forward.  We shall not be overcome by the weight of any memory, or the pain of any present affliction because our hope is not in getting through difficult moments, but in prevailing against them as one who shall be victorious even as Christ was victorious in bringing evil to its knees in defeat and overcoming the darkness of death through the emptiness of the tomb.  Our hope is not in things.  It is not in our own strength.  It is not in our ability get up when knocked down.  Our hope is in Christ.  It is in His open arms.