Roy Exum
I am more confident than ever that you can’t have hope without having a faith. I have seen, heard, and read enough to be totally convinced it’s just like the poet tells us, “Sometimes wishes can’t be fulfilled, hearts will stay broken and dreams lost forever in the deep blue sea … but there is still something that hold us and makes us believe there is always a way out of anything.”
As I celebrate Easter today I’ll remember my dad, my mom, my three brothers and so very many people who have not only touched my life but are responsible for both my good and my bad. Because of the faith I have, I am assured I will see all of those departed who I love once again so this is my happiest day of the entire year. It is my day of hope. Let me share a few things that I think about with the certainty He Is Risen:
I HOPE that those among us who keep falling will keep getting back up.
I HOPE those who walked among the thousands of lush spring flowers at The Barn Nursery yesterday, as bright sunshine literally drenched the place, took a moment to realize just to stand there and soak in such beauty is one of life’s best moments.
I HOPE every time you see where a funeral is going to be held, you’ll never forget the line, ‘You can fake you care, but you can’t fake showing up.’
I HOPE that you will like Jay Z’s classic line: ‘Don’t tell me what they said about me … tell me why they felt comfortable enough to say it to you.”
I HOPE more basketball players could have played for John Wooden at UCLA, who coached, “Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” The Wizard of Westwood also taught, “Whenever you are in the public eye, you will receive a large amount of praise and a lot of unjustifiable criticism and you should not be unduly affected by either.
I HOPE that you realize it is natural to believe your faith is a lot bigger than your fears. It is, you know.
I HOPE we will never cease to wonder what hurts our feelings the most: saying something and wishing you had not; or saying nothing, and wishing you had?
I HOPE our young realize if they want something they have never had, they must do something they have never done.
I HOPE that if you buy into the idea that one in four Americans have mental problems, you’ll think of your three best friends and do the math.
I HOPE you’ll heed this Chinese Proverb: “If your problem has a solution, why worry about it? If it has no solution, why worry about it?”
I HOPE we will forever embrace the memory of Gilda Radner. She’s the one who famously said, “It’s always something.” But she also said, “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.”
I HOPE I can be sitting at a bar some night when an old man looks at a gentle old lady, tips his drink towards a toast, and says, “Here's to the moments when we didn't think about right or wrong; where we just lived, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.”
I HOPE you realize that elegance is not about being noticed, it is the art of being remembered.
I HOPE that if you ever think of giving up, don’t do it because God gave you your life knowing that you were every bit strong enough to handle it.
I HOPE the persecuted Christians the world over will remember the words of Phillips Brooks: “Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his Resurrection. Let him say not merely, "Christ is risen," but "I shall rise."
I HOPE that I will never grow so old that I can’t ask myself, ‘When was the last time you raised a standard in your own life??’
I HOPE politicians could learn that promises mean everything until the instant they are broken. That’s exactly when ‘sorry’ means nothing.
I HOPE that I can be in a church like this one: One Sunday morning at a small country church the new pastor called on one of the older deacons to lead the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, “Lord I hate buttermilk.” The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was totally perplexed. The deacon continued, “Lord, I ain’t too crazy about plain flour either. But after you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em, I just love biscuits.”
“Lord help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don’t like, whenever we don’t understand what You are doing, we need to wait and see what You are making. After You get through mixing and baking, it’ll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen.” (author unknown)
Happy Easter Sunday!
royexum@aol.com