Scraggly Pessimism or Bright Eyed Hope

I read that this year’s 75-foot-tall, 11-ton Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrived at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The tree, donated by Al Dick (from his front yard in Oneonta, New York), will be lit on Friday, Dec. 2. The headline that stood out first about the tree was “it is a symbol of hope.” Don’t we all agree that the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Square or the ones that will bring joy and cheer to our homes will add HOPE to us this Christmas? After all, Christ-mas and the babe in the manger, Jesus Christ, are all about HOPE. But, then, comes the naysayers and critics, and you hear things about the tree like: “It’s scraggly”, “Could it look any worse?” “It looks like it tried to cut its own hair.” But then I read this headline on Tuesday: “Adorable owl found tucked inside Rockefeller Christmas tree”. Workers discovered the bird clinging for its life on the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce over the weekend. The bird was discovered as crews were “unwrapping” the tree. The bird had gone about three days without food or water before Ravensbeard Wildlife Center received the owl. A Ravensbeard rep said: “We’ve given him fluids and are feeding him all the mice he will eat. So far so good. His eyes are bright. Once he gets a clean bill of health, he’ll be released to continue on his wild and wonderful journey.”

Think about the naysayers who doubted, ridiculed, and laughed at Jesus – Jesus Who was HOPE – personified. Doesn’t seem much has changed in these times. There will always be the naysayers and there will always be messengers of hope. My husband described HOPE as "Something good is about to happen to you!” We never gave up hope….even until his last breath, we stood by “Nothing is impossible with God so we will continue to HOPE that something good is about to happen." How beautiful to live with expectancy instead of living in hopelessness. I never liked it when I heard someone say, "Don't get your hope up!" Maybe you’ve heard it said or have said it during this election fiasco. No matter who said it – it is a sad and negative command! But, bring on the "Get your hope up thinkers"! I LOVE happy ending movies! A real life, true story movie played out as our Lord lived on this earth and gave hope that something good was about to happen to those He encountered. He always gave hope, yet this same Lord, as despicable as it was, was beaten, tormented and martyred. What a sad ending to all that He taught! OH, but we don’t stop there, because HOPE didn’t stop there. Such good news came on the 3rd day. It wasn’t the ending at all. Our Champion, Jesus Christ won on Resurrection Sunday aka Easter…so, we win and HOPE with great expectancy! Anything is possible with hope! Hope gives us confidence and assurance. Hope gives us the ability to trust, to have faith in the present moment, no matter how bleak it may be. Hope gives us peace in the midst of the storm. Hope brings us joy in times of sadness. As long as we have hope, we won't give up, because once we choose "HOPE", anything is possible!