Hope in Flowers
Photo courtesy of Arkansas Annual Conference Communications
November 7, 2023
Vigil is foremost an act of hope. Prophets tell the truth (call out sin) and invite emancipation (call for repentance), all for the purpose of calling forth hope. Vigil is keeping watch for the signs of God’s presence, almost always in relation to little things. We watch for what we hope for. Christopher Pramuk calls this thinking prophetically. It is praying “for a word of hope where things look hopeless, for a renewed sense of liberation where relationships seem broken or coercive beyond repair.” [1]
In relation to evil, hope is the message that it does not have the final word…God does. In relation to ourselves, it means we do not have to live a moment longer under the oppression of the imperialists. We can be free in our hearts, even as the demagogues continue their ranting and harm doing. This is the hope we have seen again and again in people of faith. It is the “blessed life” Jesus named in the Beatitudes, when he said we can rejoice even when we are harassed (Matthew 5:10-12).
Paul Chilcote and I wrote about this in our book, "Living Hope." [2] We wrote it in the midst of societal and ecclesial splintering, leaving a host of God’s beloved children victims of the political and religious fundamentalists. Sadly, this victimization has increased in the ensuing three years, escalating too often into violence and murder. The threefold prophetic task is urgently needed. Culture and Church are crumbling around us as the political despots and religious dominionists ply their trade and sell their snake oil.
Vigil is the one-word summary of God’s call to us in these days. Vigil is the continuous and comprehensive “seeing”—into things, through them, and beyond them. Vigil is the hard work of endurance (long-haul discipleship), the work of courageous renewal, and the work of nonviolent resistance to evil. As this series unfolds, we will explore the threefold prophetic task in relation to specific challenges. We do this singing, “We shall overcome, someday!”
[1] Christian Pramuk, “By Bowing My Ear a Little, I Have Received Her” The Merton Seasonal, Vol. 48, No. 3, Fall 2923 (The Thomas Merton Center), 9.
[2] Paul W. Chilcote and Steve Harper, "Living Hope: An Inclusive Vision of the Future" (Cascade Books, 2020).