Jennifer Bell and Sadie Kiser are coming of age in two markedly different worlds until their zip codes collide in a small impoverished town in Catersville, Mississippi. The bond of a single smile initiated a mutual friendship that would grow in its impact as they faced deprivation, trauma, abuse and abject poverty before either knew what it fully meant.
They were on a unique, similar but not alike journey. “Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process… It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person,” said John Steinbeck, “in itself; no two are alike.”
Reading from a local author’s book last week — “Finding Hope: A Journey from Despair to Joy” by Tiffany Moncrief — I was reminded there’s something about the final pages of a good book that prompts a fair bit of musing for me.
Doesn’t letting go help foster new beginnings? How can a simple smile be so universally inviting of friendship? How essential of a role do we assign to hope in our lives?
David, the Psalmist, after a seven-chapter slide through loss with gripping angst trending toward a very dark place, penned a gem in Psalm 143:6: “I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.”
All means a-l-l for David, and he, like Jennifer and Sadie in their shared journey, reached a place of losing all hope until… (and I won’t give the plot). And when hope wanes, a paralyzing grip can take hold of our journeys. David’s own journey in Psalms attests to this.
David faced similar deprivation, trauma, abuse and spiritual poverty on his journey too.
Some truisms we can apply from Psalm 143 are:
• Losing false hope isn’t actually losing Hope.
• Finding genuine Hope is a worthwhile journey.
• Losing and finding often are coupled together.
• Sharing our journey can foster healing and hope.
“For years, I wanted nothing more than to share my newfound hope in Him with Sadie,” said Jennifer Bell, the protagonist who energizes the narrative in Moncrief’s book. “I wanted her to have the same hope and peace I had found. I knew if He could make things right for me, He could just as easily make things right for her.”
Essential elements of hope that are necessary and reaffirmed in the pages of “Finding Hope” are: develop a “let it go” attitude, try not to revisit it, grieve the losses, enjoy the individual and collective journeys, accept the new while finding a placeholder for the past, and share your story of newfound hope. Oh, and smile often!
Prayer: Thank you, God, for new hope borne of our experiences that shines brightly on our path today. Amen.
Markus Dennis is pastor of Riley Friends Church in Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.
