"There's a design to what I did and said"
It was Julian of Norwich who said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and every manner of thing shall be well."
The older I get the more this means to me. The more hope means to me.
When I was younger I didn't know the difference between hope and expectations. Looking forward to things meant anticipating the weekend, Christmas presents, or fun plans in my immediate future. As my eyes grow wider and wider at the evils in this world and my heart bigger and fainter with love for my children, especially, I am brought to the reality of hope in our lives.
Stretching beyond circumstance, hope is trusting that God will keep his promises. That on an individual level, God is using my sufferings to make me more Christ like. On a greater level, that he is using me as part of his story, to fulfill his purpose. And that ultimately, he will restore all things.
Hope in restoration brings contentment for us now. Here.
As Dostoevsky writes in The Brothers Karamazov:
Like a babe, I trust that the wounds will heal, the scars will vanish. . . that, in the end, in the universal finale, at the moment universal harmony is achieved, something so magnificent will take place that it will satisfy every human heart, allay all indignation, pay for all human crimes, for all the blood shed by men, and enable everyone not only to forgive everything but also to justify everything that has happened to men.
In college, Jackie and I brainstormed a playlist for what would be called, *Jackie and Kristen's BrEaKuP MiX* or something equally kitschy. The first song was something full of heartache and anger and expletives and the music moved through the stages of grief, with angry ones up front, moving on to depression and so forth. We both agreed immediately and without conversation that the final song would be Vito's Ordination Song by Sufjan Stevens. That song exemplified contentment, resolution, restoration.
I'll leave you with that. An appropriate song for Advent and for hope.
Vito's Ordination Song
The older I get the more this means to me. The more hope means to me.
When I was younger I didn't know the difference between hope and expectations. Looking forward to things meant anticipating the weekend, Christmas presents, or fun plans in my immediate future. As my eyes grow wider and wider at the evils in this world and my heart bigger and fainter with love for my children, especially, I am brought to the reality of hope in our lives.
Stretching beyond circumstance, hope is trusting that God will keep his promises. That on an individual level, God is using my sufferings to make me more Christ like. On a greater level, that he is using me as part of his story, to fulfill his purpose. And that ultimately, he will restore all things.
Hope in restoration brings contentment for us now. Here.
As Dostoevsky writes in The Brothers Karamazov:
Like a babe, I trust that the wounds will heal, the scars will vanish. . . that, in the end, in the universal finale, at the moment universal harmony is achieved, something so magnificent will take place that it will satisfy every human heart, allay all indignation, pay for all human crimes, for all the blood shed by men, and enable everyone not only to forgive everything but also to justify everything that has happened to men.
In college, Jackie and I brainstormed a playlist for what would be called, *Jackie and Kristen's BrEaKuP MiX* or something equally kitschy. The first song was something full of heartache and anger and expletives and the music moved through the stages of grief, with angry ones up front, moving on to depression and so forth. We both agreed immediately and without conversation that the final song would be Vito's Ordination Song by Sufjan Stevens. That song exemplified contentment, resolution, restoration.
I'll leave you with that. An appropriate song for Advent and for hope.
Vito's Ordination Song
I always knew you
In your mothers arms
I have called your name
I've an idea
Placed in your mind
To be a better man
I've made a crown for you
Put it in your room
And when the bride groom comes
There will be noise
There will be glad
And a perfect bed
And when you write a poem
I know the words, I know the sounds
Before you write it down
When you wear your clothes
I wear them too, I wear your shoes
And the jacket too
I always knew you
In your mothers arms
I have called you son
I've made amends
Between father and son
Or if you haven't one
Rest in my arms
Sleep in my bed
There's a design
To what I did and said
In your mothers arms
I have called your name
I've an idea
Placed in your mind
To be a better man
I've made a crown for you
Put it in your room
And when the bride groom comes
There will be noise
There will be glad
And a perfect bed
And when you write a poem
I know the words, I know the sounds
Before you write it down
When you wear your clothes
I wear them too, I wear your shoes
And the jacket too
I always knew you
In your mothers arms
I have called you son
I've made amends
Between father and son
Or if you haven't one
Rest in my arms
Sleep in my bed
There's a design
To what I did and said
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