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Dear Friends,
At the beginning of February I spoke to you in a sermon on the theme of hope, the importance of hope and the fact that we should never underestimate the effect that hope can have on our lives - that feeling of expectation and desire and trust - it can take away our feelings of despair and it can give us a whole new perspective on life and ultimately change the way we think about our future.
I wonder if you remember my story of those research rats which swam for over twenty-four hours because they were given hope!
Hope is a wonderful thing and it can sustain us through so much and give us the energy and resources we need to move on in our lives!
As I said at the time - hope is a crucial and a vital part of life, with an absence of hope in our lives we are in despair.
However as I also said - hope has to be realistic and a true hope for if it is not then it can ultimately lead to even greater despair. So hope is vitally important!
But the question is always: How do we keep that hope alive in our lives? And not just in our lives but in the lives of others!
I have to say for me the month of May is not the month of May unless I personally reflect on Christian Aid Week and all that this organisation stands for in the world and does for the poor of our world in an effort to alleviate their poverty and give them hope in their lives.
This year Christian Aid Week runs from the 10th to the 16th May and the theme of its campaign this year is just that -"keeping hope alive." We are asked to think about this: Is our church giving life? If we feel we are alive as a church, are we willing to give life to others - will we be their lifeblood, a source of their hope and help to keep their hope alive?
As Christian Aid say, "Hope crosses denominational boundaries. All of us hold on to the hope of a better future for the poor and oppressed in our world.
"God's love is made complete in us, his people (1 John 4:12) - and in unity we must act out that love by working for a better life for others."
Poverty robs so many people in our world of their chance to fulfil their potential. It does not have to be this way.
Christian Aid wants to give life now - full life not half life. It wants to give people hope now and it really does not have to be that difficult to give hope. One example they quote is of a young girl called Nadia who following the death of her father found each day a struggle to survive.
A year's sewing course funded by Christian Aid, restored Nadia's hope and as she said gave her an education for life; she now has a fuller life and she passes on her knowledge to other young women allowing them too to have a fuller life and hope in their lives.
One action of hope is like that pebble dropped in the water -as it is dropped more hope ripples out from it in ever-increasing circles.
One act of hope can be the lifeblood for a whole community living in poverty and many lives can be transformed by that one act.
So as Christian Aid Week approaches, I hope you will be encouraged to take part in whatever we organise as a church and by doing so we will be alive as a church and we can be like lifeblood to others.
Our small acts of hope can ripple out and help to give others lifeblood and a true and realistic hope which will then keep hope alive in many of the poor communities of our world.
Be the lifeblood: keeping hope alive!
Caryl
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