Each spring season, two other seasons dawn that give recreational meaning to my life. One is turkey hunting, as you've probably already guessed from my previous posts. The other is Major League Baseball season, which for all intents and purposes, begins today.
There is a saying - not originally designed for baseball teams breaking training camp - that is echoed by fans from coast to coast each April. The saying, "Hope Springs Eternal." If you are a fan of the big market teams, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers or Angels, you are filled with hope. Even if you are a fan of small market, low budget teams like the Pirates, Brewers and Royals, you have a reason to hope. Hey, at this stage of this season, everyone is tied. Every team, regardless of the dollars they have to spend, is on equal ground in the standings.
For fans of the big market teams, hope will mushroom as spring turns to summer. For fans of the small market teams, hope is usually lost by Memorial Day weekend.
Is your hope equally circumstantial? Does your hope rise and fall based on the victories or defeats you experience in your life?
On Easter Sunday, I shared with our church a sermon on hope based on Jesus' encounter with two disciples on the Emmaus Road. We likened hope to the Holy Spirit. Have you ever noticed how the Holy Spirit is the "forgotten member" of the holy trinity? In the same way, hope is often the forgotten member of the trinity of virtues - faith, hope and love.
We hear a multitude of sermons/lessons on faith. A multitude of sermons/lessons on love. But hope seems to be the missing link in the trinity of virtues. The slighted virtue.
Are you in need of a hope transfusion today? Do you need a refreshing sense of optimism that can only come from God's sovereign Word? Spend some time today reading, reflecting and praying over 1 Peter 1.1-12. It just might infuse some eternal optimism into your hope.
