The Daily: Friday December 5, 2025

Rejoice in hope; be patient under trial; persevere in prayer.
Romans 12:12

What Hope Is Not, Part 2

Today we continue cleaning out the spiritual toolbox — naming what isn’t hope so we can recognize the real, courageous, open-ended thing when it arrives. These next four, from MaryAnn McKibben Dana's Hope: A User's Manual, speak deeply into our Advent waiting.

5. Hope Is Not Cause and Effect
Hope is not a recipe: do this, and that will happen.
A gardener knows how much is out of our control — rain, pests, heat, timing. Hope lives in the same soil. It asks us to act faithfully without guaranteeing the harvest. As Dana says, “true hope defies cause and effect.”

6. Hope Is Not Solace
Solace comforts us; hope calls us forward.
Solace is good and necessary — a balm when life aches. But hope is different. Hope stirs us toward justice and repair. Hope doesn’t only soothe; it summons. In your sermon you said, “hope insists another world is possible.” Solace helps us breathe; hope helps us move.

7. Hope Is Not the Opposite of Despair
Hope and despair can live in the same heart.
This is such good Advent theology: the holy can hold both ache and anticipation. As you preached, “Our fears and our longings are often right in the same place.” Hope does not cancel despair; it coexists with it — and still chooses to act.

8. Hope Is Not Future-Proofing
Hope is not eliminating uncertainty or preparing for every possible scenario.
Future-proofing tries to control outcomes; hope frees us to improvise, adapt, respond with courage. Hope doesn’t require guarantee — only engagement.

Reflection Question
Where in your life right now are you longing for a straight line, a guarantee, or relief — when what you may actually need is courage, presence, or patience?
How might Advent invite you to hope differently?

Prayer
Holy One,
teach us to hold joy and sorrow together,
to plant seeds without knowing the season,
to rise and act even when outcomes are unclear.
Make us prisoners of hope,
courageous in the places where we tremble.
Amen.