"Hope in February"

    In case anyone needed a reminder, January is a winter month.  January 2019 certainly lived up to winter, weather-wise.  Although February is also a winter month, we notice that the days are getting longer and the number of days until spring are getting fewer.  Reason enough to have hope.
    How often we grasp at straws when looking for some reason to have hope as we go through the dark days of illness, loneliness or disappointment or even winter.  How often the feeling of hope is buried by anger on trying days when we feel betrayed or cheated.  How much peace eludes us during the times when we’re ensnared by worries or fear.
    As we embark on this still-young year, and our resolutions are not quite in tatters yet, perhaps we need to get an early start on the self-examinations that we attempt during Lent.  Self-examinations that allow us to see where it is that we often encounter crossroads in our everyday journeys.  Crossroads where we take the road to despair, or anger or worry -- when the other road offers a Companion to share the load and carry the burden.  Paths that say “Let me do it my way”, rather than paths saying, “I need some help here.”
    Our emotions, under difficult circumstances, tend to well up forcefully and quickly.  Sadness can overwhelm us.  Anger calls for quick revenge.  Worries and fear can paralyze us.  How do we suppress such strong feelings?                                                      Of course, it’s not easy.  We have to work at turning to prayer first.  We have to  learn to be patient  And, perhaps most important of all, we have to learn to trust in a Wisdom that is way beyond our own.
    As we make our way through 2019, take a moment occasionally to look back on the hard times.  Note how things have worked out.  How you’ve been sustained.  How things happened that you might never have imagined.  Note how God has brought you this far, and enjoy the Peace that passes all understanding.                              Virginia                                                                                                                                                                            "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"                    1 Peter 5:6