Hope and Mary Poppins

Hope.  It is such a small word, and a four letter word to boot.  Webster defines it as "To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment".   The Greek root in the Bible defines it as a "confident expectation".  The Hebrew defines it as "to wait, be patient".  That tells us what it means, but what is hope really?


To some, I expect, it is a wish list.  "I hope I get such and such for my birthday."  And there is nothing wrong with that, we do it all the time.  "I hope I don't get sick, or have a flat tire".  And while these are sincere "hopes", the world won't come to an end if these hopes aren't realized.

To others it may mean we have to wait.  I never pray for patience anymore, because I don't like the lessons I have to learn in order to gain that gift.  No one likes to wait, none of us are patient.  And yet we do, some wait for a lifetime to see the fulfillment of that hope.

As a believer in Christ, I take great comfort in His definition of hope.  It is an expectation, yes.  But it isn't all wishy-washy. . . I can believe with confidence.  I know that my hope will be fulfilled one day.  I love hindsight . . . it is always 20/20.  And when I look back over a lifetime, that hope has been fulfilled in ways that I never would have considered.  While not necessarily in my game plan, it was always unexpected and exciting.  And often much better than I had "hoped" for.  My rather loose definition of hope is "blessed for trusting".

Now trust is a whole different matter.  Trust is earned.  I trust because I have been shown beyond all

My pocket cross.

shadow of a doubt that what was promised will be fulfilled.  I can hope, yes, but to be confident in that hope, I must trust.  Someone
gave me this "pocket cross"  when I was heading for a dark time.  It is my constant reminder that I can trust.  And this little rock was found in the bottom of my hole on a day when I desperately needed hope.

I went to see the new rendition of "Mary Poppins" this week.  It was fun, uplifting, joyful.  And as I sat watching it, I kept thinking that Mary Poppins would "twiggle" her nose and make everything all better.  She would solve all the problems, make them all go away and all would live  happily ever after.  Not so.  But she did instill hope into a "hopeless" situation.  She encouraged, uplifted, but still allowed her "family" to suffer through their problems to the very last second, when they solved it by themselves . . . with a little help from their friends.

There are times I have been accused of being a "Mary Poppins".  I used to think that was a bit of a slight.  Not anymore!  If I can lift you up, encourage your endeavor, put a smile on your face . . . then I will be glad to lift up my umbrella an fly with you!  Can I fix your problem?  No.  Can you fix mine?  Probably not.  But you can be my "Mary Poppins" when I need one, or be there for someone else.  It is not so hard.  Simply be confidently expecting the best from a person or a situation.  And if that is what you expect, it will probably happen!

Just writin' on the River Road