Hope and Grief

I am always attempting to find a way to hang on to hope.  Hope asks us to look at the bigger picture in the midst of the in your face details.  As I look back on my first semester at Covenant, I am forced to reflect on the topic of grief.  Grief came up in class way more than hope.  It seemed to be the answer to way too many questions.  How does a person overcome A, B, or C, well they need to grieve.  They need to face the pain, the disappointment, the unmet expectations, the unfulfilled hope, the sin they've experienced or doled out.  There is a call to honestly looking at your heart, at what you long for (the beginning of hope) and desire, and to own and accept the fact that it hasn't happened or can't happen.  Hope tells us that the world isn't as it should be, and that it won't always be this way.  Grief happens in the middle.  We must acknowledge how much it hurts that we are in the not yet phase of our hope of glory.  Because of the entry of sin into the world I experience pain, suffering, hate, cruelty.  Our suffering often gets undermined or minimized because it is compared to something that is seen as much worse.  But, it's our suffering and pain to bear.  Sucking it up won't make it all better.  I believe that I must look at the disappointment I feel towards myself and others.  There is a time to grieve, and it's not just at funerals.  If we don't look at what hurts straight in the face, how can we then hope for what will be.  We need to grieve what has been lost, so that hope is realized.  And it really does hurt.