Life is often described as a journey. And many also think about the season of Advent as a journey. This Nomad61 Advent project has been on a journey; through 4 main themes 

ENCOUNTER :The JOY of Being Known 
TRIBE : Belonging in LOVE 
WILDERNESS : Searching for PEACE 
GROUNDED : Determined HOPE 

Determined Hope
This year, in Europe, many people put up a decorated Christmas tree much earlier than usual. Why? Because they were in need of a little light, a little sparkle, a little sign of hope. This past year has been especially challenging for so many of us. We’ve lived through so much collective loss, grief, frustration and disappointment. People walking in darkness long for light. They long for hope.  

A prophet named Jeremiah, also found himself looking for light and hope, having witnessed loss and destruction and grief. Jeremiah writes : 

“I am the man who has seen affliction 
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. 
He has driven me away and made me walk 
    in darkness rather than light”  
Lamentations 3 

We find these words in the book of Lamentations. The book of Sorrows. Jeremiah writes of his sadness, his sense of being ignored by God – he feels unseen and unheard. Trapped, lonely, heartbroken, wounded. So much of what he hoped for has disappeared. He remembers all this and says that his ‘soul is downcast’.  

Surprisingly, it is in middle of all this sadness and grief and darkness, that we find words to lead us towards hope: 

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,  
for his compassions never fail. 
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” 

Jeremiah deeply felt and easily remembered his troubles, but it seems that Hope was harder to find. Jeremiah has to call to mind truth of God’s love, kindness and faithfulness.  
Unlike his sorrows, which are at the front of his thoughts, Jeremiah has work to remember that truth, he has to pull it out from being buried by the ruins in his life. Jeremiah’s soul is weighed down by the hardships he has seen and experienced. And somehow, his eyes are lifted upwards, intent on seeing something other than the destruction around him.  

The presence of Hope in the middle of a book of Sorrows seems like the most unlikely place. And this tells us so much about Hope’s nature.  
We learn that Hope is determined – refusing to stay buried by the ruins in our lives.  
We learn that Hope is rooted in Truth. Truth of who God is, God’s forever faithfulness, forever kindness, forever Love. 
We learn that we may not find Hope as easily as we find the pain of all that is broken around us. We may have to work to bring Hope forward in our heart and mind.  
With all the disappointment we have faced in the past, it may be that the eyes of our soul are too weary to search for the light of Hope in the darkness. We need others to search with us. 

We learn that Hope is not a destination. It is a practice.  

The season of Advent is when we countdown to Jesus’ birth, to Emmanuel – God with us, on earth. During this time, we remember.  
We remember that Jesus came to earth and promised to come back again. We remember the stories of God’s people in Bible who journeyed through blessing, abundance, slavery, exile and living under oppressive rulers. We remember God’s promise that there will be a day when every tear is wiped from every eye and when all will be made new. We remember.  

Hope is not an easy word to throw at our struggles to make them shrink.  
It is a discipline; a commitment; a protest even.  
Instead of being consumed by despair – we stubbornly call Truth to mind.  
We cause ourselves to remember who God is, the stories of God’s faithfulness throughout history, the promise of what is to come, of all being made right again. 

Every Advent we remember. We practice Hope.