Hope is a dangerous thing

In Shawshank Redemption, Red tells Andy that hope is a dangerous thing.  Red was referring to hoping while behind bars, but I believe that hope is a dangerous thing in that it has the power to help us look past the moment we might be in.  We hope for great things and even not so great things.

When I was in elementary school we had a night when the power went out around 7:00 p.m.  I happened to be upstairs and the family was downstairs.  It was pitch black and I was afraid to move.  I called out and then heard my mother's voice assuring me it would be alright.  Soon she shone a flashlight up the staircase and it illuminated the hallway.  I could see my way out.  In that split second when darkness was dispelled by light, I felt hope.  We still didn't have power, in fact our whole block was without power, but I felt hope.  The fear I had was gone.  Hope having the power to dispell fear is a dangerous thing.

When I was in seminary I went through another dark time.  It was at the end of my first year and there was a lot that had happened.  I had a lot of soul searching to do.  A part of me wasn't sure I would be back for a second year yet I felt called to go on a mission trip to Kenya.  I didn't know why I needed to go.  It was difficult to raise funds but I felt that strong push to go yet as I sat on the opposite side of the world I could finally let go of some of the struggles and hurts that had held on to me.  God was able to remind me that He was God and I was under his protection.  I remember the day clearly that it started to make sense - August 8, 1994 (20 years ago this month!) and as I sat watching the sunrise come up over the Nakuru Crater I realized that again there was a light shining through the darkness.  I stepped away from my fears and returned to seminary that fall hopeful for what was ahead.

While people may know me now and think how this was just a blip in my life, consider this - a new student named Carl Palmer didn't arrive at school until September 1994 and I didn't really meet him until February 1995.  While I may have ended up back in Fayetteville my life would not be the same.  I wouldn't have the hope that I have now.  Yes, hope is a dangerous thing and I love living a hopefully dangerous life!