A friend from high school loved these verses – “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  He recently reminded me of them.  Unlike him, I was born and raised in a “Christian” family and environment.  Shows you what that’s worth at times.  I barely know the words to the Star Spangled Banner much less Bible verses.

I do not like those verses.  Initially, they sounded like the teacher in the Peanuts animated cartoons.  Then I really did not appreciate the concepts behind them.  Suffering?  Perseverance?  Character?  Less please to all.  I just want to be happy.

But there’s something there which I haven’t fully grasped – that part about hope.  In middle school, I wrote a poem for an English assignment on hope.  I don’t know what prompted me to write it – maybe because of the immigrant experience and difficult family or the Washington Capitals or Bullets.  In any case, hope is one of those themes that captivates me and circularly, gives me hope.