Hope: hiding round the corner

    Among the songs and prayers leading up to Christmas, we find this one from Germany in the 14th century:
     Behold a rose of Judah
     From tender branch has sprung,
     From Jesse’s lineage coming,
     As those of old have sung.
     It came a flower bright
     Amid the cold of winter,
     When half spent was the night.

     In a very beautiful poetic way it describes the flowering of hope for our world, “when half spent was the night.” They are words that we can read today, centuries later, and still find deep meaning.
     One of the important struggles many people have today is not just keeping hope alive but of searching for hope itself, for something that will make hope flower in the heart.
     I would like to believe that the flowering of hope is always just around the corner, present but not always evident to our line of vision. It will never come forward unless we keep journeying and struggling. Nevertheless, it is there and it is waiting for us and reaching out to us.

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year !!