4 Women and Hope

It was a roller-coaster day. The morning had started off with such pomp. Watching a radiant bride walk down the aisle to stand by the side of the beaming groom is always such a heart-warming experience. I find Christian weddings so beautiful because of the exchange of vows as the bridal couple declare their pledge in public; it is this that, to my mind, elevates the ritual of ceremony into something eternally meaningful. Heck, I didn't even know the bride or groom; I came at the invitation of the groom's mom. But that didn't stop me from vicariously experiencing the joy of  holy matrimony of a man and a woman, joined before God who decreed right from the beginning the reason for marriage - that "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18). How  appropriate it is that God created Eve from one of Adam's ribs, as the popular quote goes, "Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot, but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected and near his heart to be loved" And what a compliment Adam paid Eve, when he declared her "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). Ahh, I am such a hopeless romantic at heart....

But all the euphoria evaporated when I got to the street-feeding alley after the wedding luncheon. I saw the 2 ladies of the street I had ministered to last time. They were still with their 'boyfriends' of the day. One of them a  young widow told me they called her Jennifer, after J.Lo. Yes, she was still very much in her 'bloom'. But I knew if she carried on like this, she would end up a wilted flower, flung aside soon enough or 'passed around' like a toy to be used by the men who would come and go in her life. I had no heart to warn her even as she spoke of wanting to quit her addiction and going home to see her kids. I sighed and did the only thing I knew to do for these people; I prayed for God to turn them around, as only He can. The other lady sought me out as I sat talking to an old man who had come in late and was still eating. She was getting skinnier and more haggard now. I know she isn't well, she puts it down to gastric, I suspect it is HIV. I tell her she needs to go to hospital, she asks for money. I refuse because I know if I give, I could very well be signing her death-warrant as she was sure to waste it on drink, drugs or both. I tell her we are ready to send her to hospital ourselves anytime she wants, she hangs her head. I ask how long she wants to keep the Jesus who loves her waiting. I held her bony hands in mine and kissed them. She lifted my hand to return the kiss, smiled a sad little smile and walked away to the man who was hanging around waiting for her....

My last stop for the day was a nursing home, which I visited regularly to look in on my late husband's god-ma. I was surprised to find the gate closed for the first time, but apparently there was a new inmate, an Alzheimer patient, prone to wandering off on her own. I spied her walking around as if she owned the place. She was a sprightly old lady; very quick indeed to get away from the attendant who was momentarily distracted; down the garden slope she went and surprisingly she was strong enough to push open the heavy gate herself. They had to restrain her by tying her hands down to the chair arm-rests with bandages. But even then, she managed to unloosen one hand by herself. The sight saddened me. My godma remarked if ever she lost her mind like that, she would rather the doctor give her a lethal dose, like putting a dog to sleep.

 I couldn't sleep at nite. As the images of the  4 women flitted across my mind, I wondered about their lives. Surely they all started out with some hope at least at some point in time, whether it was the carefree innocence of childhood, the wonder of falling in love, getting married, bearing children, holding the first baby or other moments of significance. But where does it all end? Is every hope condemned to culminate in broken dreams, sickness, white hair, senility and eventually death? From the altar to an old folks home. From the cradle to the grave. Is that what life is all about? What hope is there for the soul that's been there, done that? After experiencing all the wonderful mountain-top highs and surviving the depressing valleys of life, what is left? A slide down the slippery slope into oblivion? Surely there has to be something more, much more than just ....this life.

Someone put it succintly, "You've gotta have hope. Without hope, life is meaningless. Without hope life is meaning less and less." Oscar Wilde painted a neat picture of hope - "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." That's all very poetical and profound, but what exactly are we mortals to hope for, when the reality is that life on earth is finite, when what we see is what we get, or is it? It has been wisely said by Don Quixote, "Sanity may be madness but the maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be." Or to put it another way,  to see life just as it seems is insane, for then we miss what life should (and can) be.

Apostle Peter talked about an alternative certainty where, "In His great mercy He (God) has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4) - this is the real hope that propels life from ordinary to extraordinary, from natural to supernatural, from earthly to divine, from temporary to eternal. This is the fantastic promise guaranteed and sure to come to pass for those who  "Though you have not seen Him (Jesus), you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,  for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:8) Hope is what Jesus came to give to a world without hope, for the world is bound to go the way of death. Indeed He died but not into hopelessness, for He arose alive - becoming a living, ever-present, blessed hope for all who believe.

I have passed many milestones in my life; walking down its road as a bride, mother and now a widow. My hair is already turning white, and surely the day will come when I breathe my last on earth. But death holds no fear for me, because I know whom I have believed. I have a living Hope, and He will bring me home where my inheritance awaits in heaven; there I will live and never die.

"That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe" - 1 Timothy 4:10