Hope Leans Forward

Lament & Hope: Prayers & Teaching for Justice and Peace

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Words- Jon Swales
Beats- Sayburn 'Father'
Hope leans forward,

tender,

listening to the whispers of creation

groaning for renewal.

It does not turn its face from shadows

but gazes through them,

finding in the darkness

the first faint glimmer of dawn.

There is a holy audacity in hope—

a quiet trust and boldness,

knowing the story is held

in hands not our own,

nail scarred hands that invite us

to weave and work with them

a future of beauty and grace.

Hope speaks where

fear falters,

narrating a kingdom ,

telling a story

where the scattered are gathered,

where the weary find rest &

the exile a home.

It does not retreat,

nor stumble

beneath the solemn,

world-weary weight.

It moves with sacred purpose,

a searching grace,

a steady faith.

Hope is a spring,

a foretaste,

an existential refreshing

a momentary liberation

that lifts us from despair.

Hope knows the wounds of this world,

but counters fear

with holy persistence, &

holy resistance,

declaring that there is not a hurt

he will not heal.

Hope,

a gift,

a call to action,

a quiet confidence that moves towards the pain—

not alone,

but with hands outstretched,

pulling the darkness of this world

towards the light of Christ.

Hope leans forward,

Tender,

‘Be ready,

Greet it with a kiss.’