I have recently been reading a sermon a day from Frederick Buechner's Secrets in the Dark, and am loving it. His word craft and authentic experience of faith, as well as his theology, all draw me in deeper.
Hope tends to be a central theme in my life of faith, and Buechner writes often of this. His sermon, Hope, resonated well with me. An excerpt:
"I think it is hope that lies at our hearts and hope that finally brings us all here [into the church]. Hope that in spite of all the devastating evidence to the contrary, the ground we stand on is holy ground because Christ walked here and walks here still. Hope that we are known, each one of us, by name, and that out of the burning moments of our lives he will call us by our names to the lives he would have us live and the selves he would have us become. Hope that into the secret grief and pain and bewilderment of each of us and of our world he will come at last to heal and to save." (81)
A life without Christ = A life without Hope
Simple truth, that Buechner explains perfectly, that I often take for granted.
Posted by: Joi | February 09, 2007 at 01:11 PM
beautiful words. hope is something that i always love to remember. thanks for the quote josh!
Posted by: kyledawn | February 09, 2007 at 05:48 PM
Makes it all worth it, doesn't it? Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: janelle | February 10, 2007 at 10:37 AM