Word and Songs |  Peace and Protocols for Hope

with Sr. Rose Agtarap, fsp

God’s Word today is about peace which fits snugly with our continuing theme of Protocols for Hope. Listen to the prophet Isaiah: “I will send her peace, overflowing like a river, and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you.”

If the past week was not as hopeful as we would like, this word just gives us the assurance that we indeed are children of God, carried and comforted in his arms.

Despite the extraordinary challenges and crises in our world today, our hope in God can truly change things for the better. Our hope restores, heals, and liberates us. Our hope has no limits because it demonstrates the presence and activity of God in the world through Christ.

Have you discovered where your hope is? Have you written down your goals? These were the first two protocols I left you with last week. And the third is: Visualize what you are hoping for. Have in your mind a clear picture of what you want. Some people have a dream board or a vision board where they put images of their desires and dreams. William James wrote: “There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.”

How wonderful to have a million dreams! We don’t have to work on them at the same time, though. One at a time, let your wish, desire, attention, and passion join forces with your will and concentrate on what you want. To do that, you would need to practice the fourth protocol: Think hope. Speak hope. Act hope. A thought, a word, and an action make things happen. You have to watch out for those negative thoughts, and not be excessively self-critical. Learn to evaluate yourself and others constructively. Don’t be stuck in the storms of the past that you can’t see the rainbows above your head.

Jesus sends his disciples to be bearers of good news and tells them: “Courage, I am sending you like lambs among wolves… whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house.’” He not only sends the disciples of his time to be bearers of peace but each and every one of us now, today. We are called to be peace-bearers and peacemakers and not be stuck in our own storms, refusing to let go of our umbrellas. He gives us his peace, his love, and his light to surround us.

Christ Jesus is our hope. The only hope in God’s ways can truly change things, cure our moral paralysis, and deliver the world from powerlessness, dullness, and sin. God is committed to transforming us into a more perfect manifestation of Christ’s body. Imagine when our eyes are focused on God – no one and nothing will be excluded! We will be filled with God’s light and hope, we will truly become the light and hope of the world. We can start by sowing some grains of hope like helping someone in need.

Or you might like to sit down for a while and review the protocols we have already discussed. No. 1. Discover where your hope is. No. 2. Set a goal. 3. Visualize what you are hoping for. 4. Think hope. Speak hope. Act hope. To put this into action, we need protocol No. 5. Plan for the future. Whether you are healthy or not, planning for the future creates light at the end of the tunnel. Planning generates energy and enthusiasm and helps you forget mistakes of the past. Plan something – big or small – that gives you satisfaction and joy. Let your plans serve as a compass to bring you back to the Way who is Christ.