Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 18, 1999
Volume 44, No. 26

Gobbledygook?
"Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." -- St. Paul's Letter to the Christians living at Rome, Chapter 8, verses 24-25.

That quote could seem to be "gobbledygook, circular, confusing and useless." But in fact, Scripture overall, and in many instances, specifically, "makes all the sense in the world."

As Anglicans we know that Scripture alone does not always lead, guide and ground us in a balanced way. The "three-legged stool" of Anglicanism tells us that solid faith includes Holy Scripture, Reason (what does our mind tell us?) and Tradition (how has God manifested God's Truth in history?)

But Scripture often reveals wisdom of such depth and richness that when we hear it we say "aha!" (translated: "I knew that but I didn't know that I knew that!")

This particular excerpt means a lot to me because it makes so much sense: we don't hope for that which is; hope, by definition, is about that which has not yet come to be. Faith, or trust, is about believing in that which we cannot prove.

If we live with hope then we are counting on God to bring about that which is not yet, so we know that we must leave it to God; thus, we "wait for it with patience."

The Christian faith is all about hope, above all other dimensions of our life together -- we are about hope.

With hope there is never despair. Hope is a gift from God and we are indeed blessed when we have it. Amen.
~Bill Kolb+