The Thing With Feathers

As I was thinking this morning about Hope, I remembered that dear old poem by dear old Emily Dickinson:

“Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.”

Of course, as believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and Redeemer of our souls, our hope is in Him at all times.  And yet, the imagery the poet uses is so vivid.  

Our hope is like a little bird, always singing, through storm and gale, wind and waves, on the coldest, loneliest island and on the strangest sea of abuse…  

If you’ve ever watched a sparrow or a finch on a windy day, they cling to the little twig of a branch and the tune goes forth just as bravely as if it were a calm, peaceful day.  How bold is our hope!  How brave is our trust in the promises of Christ!

Inconceivable truly that this hope lives on and on in our souls, through the darkness, through the confusion, through the pain and the betrayal.  Actually unfathomable that God gives us this hope.  Sometimes it is just a tiny little chirp, the coo of a dove, sometimes the wren’s trill of victory, and sometimes a morning song that gets us up and out of bed like June robins at 3:30 a.m.  However your little thing with feathers is singing to you today, be blessed by the one who gives us Hope and Grace and Mercy and everlasting Love.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an ended;

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.”     Lamentations 3:21

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”    1st Peter 1:3

“…waiting for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..”  Titus 2:13