Choosing Hope
December 1, 2020
Beth Dickerson
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
I wonder how many of us today see the date of December 1 and automatically think of World AIDS Day? Designated on December 1 every year since 1988, World AIDS Day is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and for mourning those who have died of the disease. It has been thirty-two years since this day was first observed and, as of now, roughly 32 million people worldwide have died of AIDS.
But unlike this day in 1988, today there is hope for people with HIV. New cocktails of drugs have been developed so contracting HIV is no longer the death sentence that it once was. It is now a manageable disease.
Hope is what the Advent season is all about. The gifted Roman Catholic theologian and priest Henry Nouwen said, “To wait with openness and trust is an enormously radical attitude toward life. It is choosing to hope that something is happening far beyond our own imaginings. It is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life.”
In this Advent season of COVID fear, it can be difficult to be hopeful and trust God. But, the truth of the matter is that we can do very little to completely control our own future. We try to do the next right thing by wearing a mask and social distancing. After that, we seemingly have two choices: we can fret with worry and fear that we will get sick or we can choose to hope that the Divine has us safely in the palm of her hand. I am choosing the latter and I hope you do too.
Prayer
O God, be with us as we journey through these next few weeks of Advent. Help us to remember that when we trust you, we can be hopeful that eventually all will be well with each of us and with all our souls.
