In my hand is Little Hope. I hold it bravely in the world. Sometimes there is much that seems so completely overwhelming. The earth telling us enough is enough. Plastics filling our oceans, and the bellies of sea and air creatures. Politicians whose ears are deaf to the plight and story of the most vulnerable in the world. Powerful and influential businessmen who are like their line their pockets, rip open the earth, and consume it. Much seem large and overwhelming. Like Little Hope is nothing in the noisy world of self and greed, of power. |
But my Little Hope is mine. And for as long I listen to the groaning of creation, as long as the voices of the most vulnerable are either silenced or crying desperately, Little Hope will be held out. I will listen to those stories, I will take action in my own living that counters the greed, the self, the power. It might not make a difference, but if you have Little Hope too, then maybe together, with courage, we can start to make a difference . . . .
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Do I make that decision? Do I stay, or do I go? Do I change what I am doing? Do I change who I connect with? Do I take time to do this task now, or do I tend to it later? Some of the moments are steeped in life's big, deep changes - change in health, grief, moving, job security. Some are more mundane - what will we have for tea tonight? Which instrument will I learn, or which sport will I play? Or perhaps some are stepping stone decisions to something else - what subjects at school will I take?
Sometimes they will have challenges, sometimes we can't decide, sometimes we just don't know what to do next. Sometimes we feel like we just have to sit where we are until something becomes a little clearer. Until we are more settled and resilient within ourselves. Sometimes we are waiting for God to make it very definite - and would wish for a letter with clear instructions! Sometimes it comes with gentle nudging and certainty in our soul when life's chaoses are milling around us in great drama. What are the decisions that you are in the midst of making? What are you uncertain about? Who is there around you who can help you find clarity? Or do you need to sit and wait for a bit? How do you deal with the uncertain moments? How do you look for calm in the midst of chaos? Does God have a part to play, and how? May we each find the way we need to take. And may we each have great life tales to tell!
It isn't spectacle of the same that will catch a photographer's eye. It is the stand out, odd one, that brings interest, that will draw attention. It is the odd one that sets the dynamic of the image and invites the viewer to make their response. A response that will make someone stop, contemplate, wow, or . . . . even critique. It is what is different that grabs our attention and invites us to rethink what is the should.
If we think about humanity in this way, what do we start to ponder? Who is the one who is the stand out different one for you? The one who is not like you. . . .God is in them. They have been created by God. How then are we challenged? What does that mean for us as we think about what is right? Perhaps it is the difference that is right, not our own thoughts, hived off in the insularity of others who think the same. . . . |
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