Hope for a Better Future

This past Sunday for the Call to Offering during worship, Carl Kimbrell offered these words.  I felt like Carl’s words of hope are ones all of us need to reflect upon.  With his permission, I reprint them here for you to read.  May you find hope in his words.

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Chase Peeples

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that the three pillars of Christian belief are faith, hope and love.  We hear a lot about practicing our faith and even more about practicing love, but hope—not so much.  If there ever was a time when we needed some hope, that time is now.  So, here is what I hope for: an economic recovery, a vaccine and the magical moments of kindness we share with one another.  We can take hope in all the good deeds done by others that demonstrate there is more good than bad in the world.  Hope inspires us to give to groups making a difference in our community like the SPEAC food pantry, Family Promise and our church.

Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, was asked what the great Buck O’Neil would have to say to us during the pandemic.  Kendrick was sure O’Neil would say, “Every day we’re a little closer to this being over, it’s going to pass.”  Carl also said, “I think once we come out of this thing, and we will, I think we all will gain an appreciation for the simple things in life.  And I hope that we all embrace that. Because sometimes it takes these kinds of things for us to kind of stop, momentarily, to appreciate.”

When this is over, may we never again take for granted,

a handshake with a stranger,
full shelves at the store,
conversations with neighbors,
a crowded theater,
Friday night out,
the taste of communion,
coffee with a friend,
the stadium cheering,
and each new breath of life itself.

When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we are called to be, we hoped to be, and may we stay that way—better for each other, because of the worst.