On the price of Pet Canaries

Sometimes, things are just too much. There’s enough suffering as it is, and now there’s babies washed up on beaches, too. There’s friends who are hurting, there’s children who are being abused, there’s police violence, there’s people suffering from HIV, there’s so much heaviness.

How do you cope? You, college student wondering about debt, you, mother who’s scrambling for a few moments peace, but especially you, social justice worker who’s fighting the good fight and working with the Spirit to make all things new…what do you do? When your job involves walking right into suffering instead of avoiding it, what do you do to keep your hope alive?

One thing I do is write. Sometimes I share what I write on the blog, and sometimes I don’t. But it helps. You who are writers will understand. It might be the most embarrassing drivel, but in the process of writing things all out sometimes something lifts the burden. Sometimes the writing ends up in the land of hope, and sometimes it’s still sitting in the darkness waiting.

Here’s a poem I wrote after reading Matthew 10 in the Message translation… and it’s been giving me hope lately.

On the price of pet canaries

How are you practicing hope right now? What disciplines or reminders, or hobbies, or habits do you undertake?