Floating Hope

Every morning I wake up to find a "quote of the day" from http://www.gratefulness.org/ in my inbox. I look forward to these short quotes that always help me put things in a positive perspective, but usually the quote is quickly discarded. Several days ago, though, one particular quote caught my attention and it has been in my inbox ever since.

When hope is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it sometimes floats forth and opens like one of those fluted Japanese blossoms, flimsy and spastic, bright and warm. This almost always seems to happen in community.

Anne Lamott "The Impossible Will Take a Little While," Plan B

I love this image! Returning home from vacation and re-entering the community of St. John's, I am filled with all sorts of hopes for this coming year. Hopes and goals are helpful; they give us vision and purpose. And yet, as I am listening both to the hopes and the concerns of others I recognize that several things will not unfold as I had first envisioned. My family will tell you that once I get an idea in my head: watch out! I get pretty determined to make it a reality. It is an on-going challenge for me to let go of "shiny expectations."

However, knowing this community as I do, I know that the outcome of a community effort is always better than a single effort. I have seen such great blossoming in this community so often, I have come to trust it. And I am looking forward to seeing what will be blossoming this fall.

p.s. I really don't know what a fluted Japanese blossom is; the above is my best guess from a little searching on google and my own imagination.