Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Easter promises hope and new life.  With this understood I’m remined of a poem by Emily Dickinson entitled “Hope is the thing with feathers” (above).

According to one interpreter of her works, “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers is one of the best known of Emily Dickinson's poems. An extended metaphor, it likens the concept of hope to a feathered bird that is permanently perched in the soul of every human. There it sings, never stopping in its quest to inspire…It is a kind of hymn of praise, written to honor the human capacity for hope. Using extended metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within the human soul; this bird sings come rain or shine, gale or storm, good times or bad.”

This Lent let’s listen to the birds perched in our souls.  Let’s remember that hope sings to us every day regardless of the weather, our state of mind, or our circumstances.   Hope is our life raft on what can be strange and stormy seas.

Deacon David Pierce