Super Serious But Profoundly Hopeful Dee

 

As I was preparing for Sunday’s sermon,

I had a memory of a song that I wrote in the seventh grade.

Middle school.

Age 12 or 13.

 

When I looked back at the song and its companions,

A couple of things became very clear:

1)  I once thought that songs and poems had to rhyme.

2)  I was very dramatic.

3)  Not much has changed in 35 years.

 

7th Grade Serious Dee,

In all her limited yet somehow profound wisdom,  

Penned the following words:

 

Times are very rough—

Nothing seems to go right,

There are wars breaking out,

Every day and night.

The drugs now are bad

And the criminals are mean,

The people with no homes

Are cluttering up our streets.

 

Well in Africa and Spain,

The US and Brazil,

There are people starving—

Many very ill.

And it seems that no one cares

About anyone else,

And the very few that do

Can’t do much to help.

 

If you take a look around you,

You see many hardships

Everyone’s doing something bad,

Just to make others mad;

They talk about them behind their backs

And tell little lies,

Just because of jealousy,

They’re ruining others’ lives.

 

Oh have hope, hope

You gotta have hope

And maybe someday,

Everything will be okay.

Oh have hope, oh hope

You gotta have hope

‘Cause if you have hope you will see

Everything will turn out better.

 

Almost 48-year-old Serious Dee

Would like to add:

Hope is the holy courage to believe in a better future because God is still at work. 

 

Have hope, friends. 

In these dark, tumultuous times. 

God is still in the business of creating that which is good 

And God is inviting us to join in the work of

Hope in action. 

 

Amen.