I'm not that blind or stupid. I know I live in a world full of problems and pain, but as I look out on the world on this morning after Easter, I see reason to hope. As He has done since He created the cosmos, God has once again kept the earth rotating, and orbiting. Day follows night, and, though it doesn't mean as much where I am now, spring follows winter. A moment ago the sun was shining. The yard sparkles with the droplets from the rain that just fell. The grass is green and the flowers continue to bloom. As an example of flourishing amid hostility, a little blue flower--a tropical weed, I suppose--which I plucked from a rock--literally, it was growing in a chunk of coral--is still bright and pretty after a week of being stuck in an old Pepsi can.
Though my surroundings make me feel hopeful, I do not hope because it feels right. They do, but that is not primarily why. On this day after Easter, I hope because it makes sense to hope. On Good Friday we remembered the supreme demonstration of love. "God so loved the world. . . ." Yesterday, I rejoiced in the marvelous account of the resurrection of Christ, the ultimate demonstration of power.
- If God loves me that much and
- If even death and all the forces of darkness cannot keep Jesus from His mission to seek and to save,
- Then it makes sense to hope.
- I choose to hope.
Not every morning is as hopeful feeling as this one, but the facts that cause me to choose to hope are steadfast. It's STTA. | 
