[contents week 11 (Option 1)]

WEEK 11 (Option 1) - Day 5
Disappointing situations as training ground for hope

Introduction
Perhaps at one time or another you have experienced what the word "disillusionment"  means.  Somewhere you bought into an illusion, otherwise disillusionment would not be possible.  Such an experience can be difficult, sometimes unbearably difficult, but in the end God has plans even for that. Christians should distinguish themselves from non Christians in that they hold on to a living hope.  "Now hope that is seen is not hope".  Therefore, many times God takes what we see out of our hands in order that we reach for what we do "not see." It is an illusion when we think that what is visible is more certain than the invisible hope in the living God. In this connection it becomes particularly evident how far spiritual principles and their realization in every day life are separated from each other and how important it is to "ground" these principles in daily reality.

Exercice
Metaphor meditation

For me Christian hope is like ...


Variation
Picture meditation:

Ernst Barlach - Hope and Despair


Prayer of loving attentiveness
Glider pilots speak about the "updraft" which must be located in order for the glider to be carried upwards.  In our spiritual life there are moments, periods, and events that we experience as "updrafts" again and again, but we forget them.  In a few minutes of meditation during the work day call to mind such an "updraft situation" in order to enter it again and allow yourself to be lifted up.

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