continuing on the theme of hope

as i've written before, God is teaching me about the word or reality of hope for several months now. He must still have many lessons for me about this since it continues to surface every where i go.

yesterday i saw a commercial for NBC news. it showed images of the housing crisis, economic crisis, war on terror, etc... and then images of smiling matt lauer and brian williams and the other news anchors and said that in the midst of this time, there is the "uniquely American feeling of hope".

gag.
on skype there's a little smiley face puking-- imagine that inserted here.

but it made me think about this unifying force of hope that they just barely seem to recognize. it's NOT uniquely American by any stretch, but it is unique and it is unifying. it is not NBC news that gives us hope but i will go out on a limb and say they are on to something when they recognize that despite the mess it might seem our country & world are in currently, hope endures. (i just think NBC doesn't get it of course)

i made a little note in my blackberry to blog about this later. then this morning i heard an amazing song on the radio by Natalie Grant which seems to say it better than i ever could.

Our Hope Endures

You would think only so much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this one has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend peace within pain
Our joy at a good man's wake
Walk a mile with a woman whose body is torn
With illness but she marches on

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We never walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures, the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
let the earth quake
let the earth quake
let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged