Editor’s note: Throughout July, we’re hosting 31 Days with St. Ignatius, a month-long celebration of Ignatian spirituality. In addition to the calendar of Ignatian articles found here, posts on dotMagis this month will explore the theme of “Hope Through the Twists and Turns.”
On coffee dates or on walks with my friends, I like to ask a question to take the conversation to a deeper place: What theme keeps coming up for you?
Artists, such as I, understand this question. There are themes we keep returning to in the stories we keep writing from another angle or as we sing or paint in a different way. We keep trying to make sense of them. Why do we return to some themes over and over again?
As Christians we understand this too. What are the struggles we return to, like our reoccurring sins? Or what is the theme we just can’t shake? Where does the Holy Spirit consistently draw our attention?
One theme that keeps returning for these friends is hope.
My friends have been in the Church and have loved Jesus for a long time, but they realize their attention has been divided. They have been pulled into the gloom and doom of the media and the culture around them. They know the answer to hope is Jesus, but they have forgotten how to get there. Sometimes, we forget the hope of the Gospel.
St. Paul told the Romans in his letter to them that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (5:3–4) I ponder this Scripture with my friends often. Sometimes when we look at the Word, the truth of God, we realize truths in our own lives—like perhaps we aren’t really suffering.
We have gotten caught up in the spirit of despondency, for that is the general malaise of the culture around us. My friends and I share past stories of illness, financial woes, heartbreak, and broken dreams. We remember when we were so low, we could do nothing but depend on God. And when we tell those stories, that verse from Romans comes to life. We remember how we became stronger through those situations and how we became people of character, who were people closer to God.
This is the paradox of the Gospel, that we must surrender to God to see the hope we seek.
St. Paul goes on to say that “hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:5) When I was going through the lowest and most difficult of times, I held on to that verse.
Yet, there have been other times when I have been in the midst of suffering of my own doing. I forgot that I am not of this world. My values should not be the same. I created a prison of gloom and doom for myself and, as C.S. Lewis said, I locked the doors from the inside. I forgot that I belong to Christ, and my hope is in him.
And God does not leave us alone. St. Paul goes on to explain that the reason hope does not disappoint is, “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) We are not alone, and we are loved by God. This is our hope. May we redirect our gaze upon Christ and not the things of this world.
Following along with 31 Days with St. Ignatius? Read today’s featured article, Three Tools We Carry as Pilgrims of Hope by Becky Eldredge. Share this or any article from our site with the hashtag #31DayswithIgnatius on your favorite social media channels.
HI Shemaiah,
I have been on a journey myself these last 4 months. It started on 10 February when my son visited and told us he had cancer. His last chemo was on 24 June and he “rang the bell” at the cancer centre when his treatment was finished two days ago.
GOD, HAS BEEN GOOD TO US, we endured.
Our church community and all their prayers and our son’s own positive mindset gave us the grace to endure, I hope my character has grown, I know I hoped in the Lord for Matt’s healing and he answered our prayers.
As you can imagine, the video of his “ringing the bell” opened the floodgates to many tears of relief and elation.
“Grace to endure”. I love this Katy. I celebrate this with you. May you and Matt sense God close during this time.