The small child huddled against his mother, trying to bury himself into her as she related the tale of the abuse she and the boy had suffered at the hands of her ex-partner. The questions were the standard ones: Did you try to leave him? Why did you stay? What took you so long to leave? Where did you go when you left?
It was the abuse visited on her child that drove her to leave, to take a thousand-mile journey to an unknown place where she now lived. But for the abuse on her son, she probably never would have left. Now, facing an immigration judge, she related all the things that had been done to her, to her son.
As she spoke, the small flame of hope she held within her grew, and she moved from her initially halting speech to a clear and strong recitation of the story of her life. Even the government attorney gasped. She said she tried to draw strength from God, and her faith was rewarded.
Prayer for the Day
What we ask for, what we want doesn’t seem so outrageous,
Lives free from violence, lives full of hope;
We cry out to you, O God, who beckons us to hope,
But there are times we find little hope, little peace.
Give us strength, you who offer us endless possibilities,
And be with us as we journey towards hope.
In the name of the One who is our strength,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Hope is being able to see there is light despite all of the darkness.
- Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop South Africa (1931-2021)
Hope is the thing that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.
- Emily Dickinson, American poet (1830-1886)
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord,
Plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11