Unlearning for Lent - Despair

In moments like this when violence escalates and the world feels fragile it can be so easy to spiral into deep anxiety and hopelessness. But this too is a story that God invites us to unlearn.

I have always appreciated the truly honest picture that the Scriptures paint of the world.  The Scriptures never deny how brutal life can be. The psalms cry out, “How long, O Lord?” Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. The crucifixion at first looks like the triumph of violence and the utter failure of Jesus.

But despair is not the final word of the Christian story.

It is my firm conviction that God is most present precisely where hope seems extinguished. The crucified Christ stands inside a moment that is marked with betrayal and abandonment and suffering and violence and somehow Christ holds all of it with defiant love.
Because though we may encounter all of these terrors, with Jesus, despair will never get the last word.

Unlearning despair does not mean pretending everything will be fine, but rather it means trusting that God’s work is deeper than what we can see.

Reflection question:
Where has despair begun to shape your vision more than the quiet promise of resurrection?