There's always hope

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By Sister Grace Remington OCSO
As we come to my last post for 2019, I wanted to encourage us
as we go into the New Year.

At the start of advent, I was in a church service and they displayed this picture (right).  The artist is Sister Grace Remington OCSO, from Dubuque, Iowa.   There is a lot in this picture if you take time to look, but I want to touch on one aspect.

When I first saw it, I confess I didn't like it, but as I looked I have to say, it's depth grew on me.  It may not be the most detailed or perfect design, but it is actually quite beautiful and speaks of something I want to cover in this last post of the year: hope.

The picture is of course Eve and Mary.  Eve entangled by the serpent, clutching the fruit that was the undoing of the perfection of the human soul.   Mary stands next to her, and it is this that really touched my heart.

Mary's foot crushes the head of the serpent in the picture, a symbol of the victory Christ brings over the enemy.  Eve reaches to touch the baby in Mary's tummy, that would be the repairing of all that was lost in the fall!

This picture represents such a beautiful hope to me.  Eve was responsible for ruining her paradise and changing the relationship between her and God.  I wonder if Eve realized the enormity of what she and Adam had done.   I wonder if Mary ever fully grasped the magnitude of what her baby would accomplish, and the restoration he would bring.  In this picture I can see the comfort Mary offers Eve.  The hope1

As we look on the history of the Garden of Eden and the birth of Jesus from a 2019 perspective, we can see that there was still a way forward for humanity, though Eve may not have known it. Even in that desperate situation for Eve, there was hope.  Down through the ages, a plan was already in play to bring the Son of God to earth to dwell with us and save us.  God already knew what he would do to save his people.

Today, whatever 2019 has been for you, I believe there is hope.   God has a plan which he has seen down through the ages, since before your birth.   You may look at 2019 and not see a way forward, but there is HOPE.

We sing the song, traditional or modern "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness.."  Jesus is our firm foundation.  He is unchanging and if we will look to him, he will paint a picture in our hearts that is one of hope.

May 2020 start from a place of hope for you.  Happy New Year.

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