Luminary

Hopelessness:

“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King Jr

I’ve been musing the past few days on Hopelessness. In my head there’s a connection between the hopelessness of this generation and the Go No Contact movement of our estranged adult children.

I’m wondering if our political, social, economic atmosphere has so damaged them that they just become heart-hardened. Who are the easiest people to literally cut out of your life? Family. When you’ve lost hope you are desperate for some kind of ethereal change. It needs to be immediate. It needs to be almost surgical. Like amputating your biological connections or family of origin.

Disappointment is a real thing. We get so disappointed with our relationships that we just can’t even conceive of a different way. It becomes finite. Like the quote from MLK.  When we trade hope for disappointment, what are we left with?

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Let’s make this super simple. If loss of hope or hope that is traded for disappointment sickens the heart, then how might an individual behave? They would display symptoms of a sickness.

We are not ourselves when we are sick. Can you think of the last time you had a fever or pneumonia or the stomach flu? What if Hope Deferred that makes us sick causes us to act irrational? Confused? Irritable?  Do these “symptoms” match your Estranged Adult Childs behavior? 

Yes. I know there is much more to this. HARD STOP. But track with me here, Hopelessness is a terrible burden to carry. If you are a believer in Jesus and you carry your disappointments to Him, you have a “way of escape” like it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 But, if our children never learned how to cast their care on to Jesus, well then they are just our there carrying this heavy  load on their own. Rationale tells us, “They know better”. We speak to ourselves with dialogues like, “I raised them in church”, “they know the scriptures” . It seems to me, in my musings, that maybe they don’t!

In this Advent season as the Love, Peace and Joy candle have been lit and now we are in the last seven days, I just can’t help but ponder these questions. Is Hopelessness part of the root of this trend?

Let’s join together over the next several days as we look to the miracle of Christmas and ask the Holy Spirit to work a personal Christmas miracle in our estranged children. Let’s believe for Love, Joy, Peace and  the Hope of Advent to encounter their spirits.

I’ll end with a prayer for those who might be dealing with hopelessness. Friend,parents, this prayer is for you too. My heart understands the tension between believing for a miracle and losing hope.

As we come to the day of celebrating our saviors birth I extend blessings and manifestations of the Hope, Love & Joy of Christ to you.

 

A Prayer for Those Living with Hopelessness

God of light and compassion,
We come to You weary and heavy-hearted.
For those who feel hope slipping away,
who wake with questions and fall asleep with ache,
draw near now.

When the days feel long and the future feels closed,
remind them that You are still present in the waiting.
Hold those who feel forgotten.
Strengthen those who are tired of being strong.
Whisper truth where despair has grown loud.

Bring gentle light into places of deep darkness.
Restore breath to weary souls.
Surround them with care, understanding, and grace.
Where hope feels impossible,
be hope for them—one moment, one step, one breath at a time.

We trust that even unseen,
You are working redemption and renewal.
Carry them when they cannot walk,
and let them know they are not alone.

Amen.

Be a Luminary. Take your light into the world.