Here's Hopin'

My friends Sarah and Ian became first-time parents recently. Gwyneth Maude Rowan Campbell was born on May 26, 2011, 10:52 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Now, the birth of a baby is nothing new--or spectacular. Babies are born every day--to first-time parents and to long-time parents.

But the birth of Gwyneth was particularly notable. She was born 3 months early; delivered by cesarean section to save her mother's life. She weighed in at an amazing 1 pound 7 ounces, and was 11.5 inches long. Yesterday, July 26th--two months later--Gwyneth's mom, posted this on her facebook page: "Well, Miss Gwyn is now 1895g! Almost 3x her birth weight - I can hardly believe it!"

For those of you who are "metric-challenged" (as I am), 1895 grams translates to just a hair over 4 pounds! Amazing, really, isn't it? Three months premature, and the will to live; the hopes and prayers of family and friends far and wide; and the amazing medical team at Mt. Sinai have brought Gwyneth to this miraculous place that two months ago few dared to hope for.

But here's the thing: if there was ever anything or anyone that spelled hope for me, it is Miss Gwyn--Gwyneth Maude Rowan Campbell, and her amazing resilience and will to live. In her short two months of life there is a monumental story of hope for life; hope for health; hope for wholeness and happiness, even in the face of what appear to be insurmountable odds.

Hope is a peculiar commodity. We can't see hope. We can't touch hope. We can't smell it, or hear it, or taste it. Yet, we know it exists, because each of us carries it within us. God created us with hope in our hearts. We can feel hope. We can express it in words and dance and music; in writing and in living. Hope shapes who we are. It guides our decision-making and our parenting. It lifts us from the 'valley of the shadow of death', even as it carries us through times of joy and times of despair. Yet, without hope; without even a whisper of hope lingering somewhere in our lives, we are pretty much nothing.

Yes, we were created to be people of hope and health and wholeness. And yet daily we find all around us selfishness and greed; violence and aggression. Nation battles nation; religion battles religion. People plot and strategize how they can have things their own way; how they can care for their own needs first. 'Looking out for number one!' we call it. This isn't about hope. It is about darkness and despair and hopelessness. And it's certainly not what our Creator intended, me thinks!!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get some cheap tickets for tonight's performance of the play Camelot at the Stratford Festival. What a powerful piece of entertainment!! Camelot is a play about selfish desires, and about hope. It is about the nature of true love and companionship in a world that is more interested in war and enemies. During the play, King Arthur says this, ". . . violence is not strength and compassion is not weakness."

Violence is not strength and compassion is not weakness.

Indeed, if it were not for compassion, where would we be? Created to be people of compassion, our Creator places in us her hopes and dreams for life and living. Without compassion, would there be any hope in this world, and in this life, or would it simply be an eternity of darkness and pain?

Compassion IS the only hope of this world, and of each one of us. Funny, isn't it, that it is only in giving up our selfishness and taking on compassion for others that we find our true selves. Only in caring about others before I look after myself do I truly become the person I was created to be.

Funny . . . maybe. Fulfilling . . . for sure.