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friday faves: the hope edition

DSC_0208 © 2012 . All rights reserved.

friday faves: the hope edition

Oh internet, you holiday tights wearing Christmas mall elf, I love you. Let’s see what you had to offer this week!

I’ve written fairly often before about how this time of year can knock the wind right out of me, so it came as something of a gift when I opened up my Evernote friday faves notebook today and realized everything I had saved there had to do with hopefulness. My early Christmas gift, to you and me both: a little hope to carry into the cold and dark.

Hope in the face of fear – Be a fool: Stephen Colbert on cynicism (via Mighty Girl)

Hope when faced with impossible tasks – Also known as I am ALWAYS doing things I can’t do: Page 181 and yes, you will get there from Kelle Hampton.

Hope through communion -This is Christ’s body: Rachel Held Evans spends a weekend with junior high kids.

I said it over and over and over again until I believed it. I said it until I knew in a way I hadn’t before that it wasn’t my job to do right by these kids; it wasn’t about me at all. I could only proclaim the great mystery—that Christ had done right by them, his body broken for them, his blood shed for them.  This was enough. I could not explain why or how, but it was enough.

Hope for church, even when you don’t want to go: Bekah Brunstetter talks about coming back.

Church is an hour and a half a week to step outside yourself, reflect, acknowledge that your problems are small, to be reminded of kindness, and to give thanks. I’ve been trying for years to fill that space with running and bloody mary’s and novels and dresses and bacon and farmer’s markets and the thing is — at least for me — I just can’t.

And finally, hope in an unlikely place: Brandi Carlisle, a lesbian, chooses to publicly serve the Salvation Army even though they don’t support homosexual relationships (via Ryan Bird). I don’t know what her belief system is, but her response is amazing, and frankly I think most Christians could learn a thing or two from her about changing minds and hearts through service and submission.

If it is true that the Salvation Army discriminates…then this is our chance! Not to exert our power over them by exercising our right to deprive Salvation Army kids simply because they are associated, but to show our power under them by coming to them in service and offering our gift without condition.

Also, I loved seeing this trailer for the Willow Creek Christmas, which Blaine has been giving glimpses of for months. It’s just beautiful, and reminds me about the wonder, mystery, beauty and truth that is Christmas.

WILLOW CREEK CHRISTMAS 2012 TRAILER from The Tungsten Collective on Vimeo.

And of course, Twitter. I can ALWAYS count on you.