Along Route 28 between Orleans and Chatham is a rowboat emblazoned with the word HOPE. I frequently traveled that way a few years back and I used to look for that boat and wonder about the motivation of its owner. What made that person put that boat our there for all to see? Was that person very hopeful or very hopeless or did he or she just see the great need for hope in this world?
After a few years, the word HOPE began to fade and I worried about what had happened to the person who painted it. Had his or her hope faded as well? But recently when I traveled that stretch of road, I noticed that the word HOPE had been repainted and HOPE was as vibrant as it had been when I first saw it many years ago.
What a metaphor for our own lives! How often do we start off hopeful only to have our hopes dimmed? But then through God's grace, we see the light and our hopes and dreams become real once more.
Advent is a season of hope--a season of expectation--as we await the coming of our King. A king who comes to us as a little child that we will celebrate at Christmas. A king who will come again to reign over all things. This is our true HOPE. Our true joy.
May it be yours as we walk together through this season of Advent into the glory of Christmastide.
--The Rev. Sue Lederhouse, Rector, St. Peter's Church-on-the-Canal, Buzzards Bay
Originally appeared in the newsletter of St. Peter's Church-on-the-Canal
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