Today’s Readings: Job 36:1-16; Romans 15:7-13; Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Ever since I was a young child, people told me that I was incredibly - almost annoyingly - optimistic. I had a consistent way of finding silver linings in what others considered dark and forbidding clouds.
People would tell me: “Don’t worry, Craig. You’ll grow up and that will change. You will learn how hard and unfair life is and then you’ll become more realistic.” I would smile and say, “We’ll see.”
Well, many years have passed (over 30) and I’m still waiting for those folks to be proven right. That’s because today – at the age of 42 – I still have what most folks would call a raging sense of optimism.
The only thing that’s changed is the word I would use to describe my upbeat attitude. Instead of using the word “optimism”, I would use another word to describe myself that comes from today’s passage from Romans. In that passage, Paul wrote: “May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!”
The last word of the passage is the word I would use to describe myself; I am a “hope-filled” person. While I have certainly had my share of frustrations and set backs over the years, I have refused to surrender my grip on hope based upon my faith in the One who makes all things possible.
Today, I would ask you: “What word would you use to describe your attitude/approach toward life?” Til next time…
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