Hope

Hope is the place where joy meets the struggle

                                           Parker Palmer

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here at the beginning of the beginning

as the world takes a slow breathe

and waits

waits for Sacred presence to make all things new

here as we stand with the whole weight of darkness

at our back

and the smallest hint of light

ahead

we look for hope

we want to have hope

not that we even understand what to hope for,

such are the tendrils of darkness that have woven their way

into the fabric of our being

but still we hope

gazing at a faint glimmer of light

hoping against hope

that we will understand,

that something better, bigger will surface

from deep within

and if we are lucky

something rises within us

call it joy

call it expectation

that what we wait for

here at the beginning of the beginning

will come

joy is energy

it moves our feet, our hands

it moves us forward

toward the light

and when it touches

the challenges

the hurt, the pain

the disappointment, the fear

the anger,

even the hate

when it touches the challenges

it overcomes

and hope is born

and each time hope is born

the light

so dim

so distant

grows

as we move toward morning

and the end of the beginning