Hopes & Fears

I spent this past weekend with my older brother, secluded in a tiny cabin the mountains just outside of Santa Cruz. For those who don’t know where Santa Cruz is, it’s on the California coast, somewhere between Los Angles and “The City” (Not “San Fran,” not “Frisco,” but “the City”). The whole purpose of the weekend was to keep a fire going in the wood-burning stove so we didn’t freeze to death and work on a feature-length script.

The second draft is beginning to shape up and this time around it includes some “holiday” themes. This, and the fact that Christmas is rapidly approaching, trained my mind back on a thought I was musing over recently.

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” It’s interesting how hopes and fears can be tied up in the same thing. Jesus coming into our lives brings fulfillment to both of these elements of our spiritual lives.

We hope, so desperately, for the freedom that He brings, yet at the same time we are afraid of what that will mean and the change that will bring to the comfort of the lives we lead. Freedom comes at a high price to the status quo. That seems like an obvious one, yet it’s as if people think that bringing radical change into their lives will only mean radical change to the parts that they didn’t like very much to begin with. The hopes and fears are met in the same body.

The fears may sound like a very negative aspect of what Jesus is supposedly all about. But when you think about it, they are only fears because we name them so. They are not fears because they are inherently bad or scary. They are fears because we’ve grown used to the way things are and fear that we won’t be able to survive any kind of change.

“Let my lungs issue the resounding cry: ‘I love you, Lord. My Papa. My Brother. My Intimate Friend. I desire you and crave you invading every aspect of who I am. Take my hopes and fears and transform them both in the light of your love.’” – The Adopted One

Here’s another photo from the drive home, somewhere between LA and “The City”.

Faith, Hope, Love,
Ry