Have Hope … Always

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8

I recently had a conversation with a longtime friend and colleague from my days in radio news. “Beth” was a TV reporter and anchor who moved on from the city where we lived to a different opportunity in a totally different part of the country. She worked in TV news, became a local celebrity, met someone she eventually married, had three beautiful boys and…her world came apart, as she and her husband divorced, and she was in sole charge of raising her sons. She was working early morning news broadcasts, necessitating a childcare provider to take care of her sons, which was a trauma for all for a number of years.

Eventually, Beth found a communications position with a local organization which made for more reasonable hours, and that arrangement, happily, has continued.

It has been a struggle, but Beth has done what I told her was a yeoman’s job in providing for her family and successfully navigating the world of public relations and external communications. It has “toughened” her, and we’ve talked about how that “face” looks to the world. Most important, Beth has found strength where she had not thought she could find it, in her presence to her family, and to herself. She thanked ME for being a “loyal friend”, but that’s all I can do, along with assuring her that all who know her are praying for her.

There is huge hurt in this world, from the unspeakable acts of violence in our midst to disappointment and loss that touches all of us.

Perhaps, stepping back and looking at our “positives,” provided to us by Our Lord, at least for a few minutes every day, might mitigate the feelings of sadness and internal desperation that can easily consume us.