The Ongoing Complexity of Hope

In a season when we are invited to acknowledge darkness and also pay attention to light, at a time when violence both locally and globally threatens to harden our hearts and offers to soften our hearts all at the same time, there are images that can help us reflect on the complexity of hope. The shadowy places in the rich earth are where seeds rest and sprout; in the darkness of the womb, new life is formed. In this season of long, cold nights, when futility knocks periodically on the door, what does it look like to cultivate connection and to embrace the ongoing complexity of hope?