Hope Adventure

“Hope” by Robert Indiana, 2008

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

It was late in the evening some sixteen hours after leaving Raleigh when we arrived at La Esperanza, Honduras (1994). It was a small hotel that was dark.  We really didn’t know where we were, but wherever, it was very different than any place we had ever been before.  We did know that we were tired, so sleep came easier than you might expect being in such a strange place.  The paradox of La Esperanza is that it is the city of Hope.  We would see hope in some desperate places not far away.   This was the beginning of a new medical educational elective at Duke University Medical School, “Exploring Medicine”.

My life as an obstetrician has been intimately associated with waiting!  It is a task that can be understood as passive(noun) and active(verb).  I have come to most appreciate “hope” when it is active.   I think hope is best understood as “active waiting”.  It can be an individual response but is best done with others.  It is best experienced with the other action verbs of “love” and “faith”.  These are not possessions but are actions.

So as we begin this advent season of “active waiting”.  May we find hope in the actions of others.  May we find hope in the celebrations that we have taken for granted.  May we see hope in the faithful responses to a world filled with uncertainty!

Living in Hope is a promise this advent season.  It is what we saw and experienced in La Esperanza.  It can be born this advent season where ever you are in living into the promises of Hope.

Marvin

References

Hage, M. L. (2010). Healing Agents: Christian Perspectives Second Edition (2 ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Awaiting “Good News”.

http://healingagents.blogspot.co.ke/2012/12/awaiting-good-news.html