The Loss of Hope

Sometimes losing hope is a very appropriate next step. It can happen false ideas of human goodness or ‘everything working out’ fade away. And the loss of hope becomes an invitation to face reality at a deeper level, to grieve more honestly, and to reconsider where to find strength. Often, the loss of hope is the very thing that can lead us back to Christ.

Listen to how Paul articulates this:

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

So today, take a step towards the honest kind of lament that brings us in touch with a deeper reality. Take some wisdom from this gifted writer to help fuel your prayers:

Lament itself is a form of hope. It’s an innate awareness that what is should not be. As if something is written on our hearts that tells us exactly what we are meant for, and whenever confronted with something contrary to this, we experience a crumbling. 

Now there is a distinction to be made between true lament and the more sinister form of sadness we know as despair. Despair is lament emptied of hope. It is a shell that invites the whole of your soul to dwell in its void. Many of us will visit this shell, but despair depends upon our staying. 

• Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies