“I hung hope out with the laundry,

clothes-pinned tenderly

beside a pillowcase and two sheets.

I could tell she needed air,

a sweet puff of wind.

She needed to get warm again

basking in the sun.

After a few hours,

I came out with my basket

and took her down.

We both felt refreshed.

She said,”don’t put me
in the closet

with the sheets.

Spread me on your
table.

Let your guests spill
wine and

crumbs of bread.

Wash me gently, put me
back in the

sun.

Lay me across your
bed,

so I may warm you in
the night.

that I might comfort
their dreams.

Whatever you do,”she
said,

“include me.

It is the only way
that I can live.”

~Ingrid
Goff-Maidoff

This poem was read at a memorial service I attended on Saturday. In addition to the service I also presided at a wedding and attended the graduation party of a young man I have known since he was a small boy. So many life transitions all held in one day. I felt blessed to be a part of each of these.

As I reread the poem that had also been printed on the memorial program, I thought of how it was an appropriate message for all three life events. For the young couple beginning their married life together, I pray that they remember to keep hope fully alive between them, that they place it at the center of their breakfast table and start their day fed by it. For the man who shared with us the stories of his wife, gone too soon, too young, may he grip the hem of hope with all his might and let it wrap him in powerful arms. For the young man fulfilling one goal of graduating high school, I wish that he be grounded in a hope that is planted in gentle heart, a hope that will carry him through the 'what's next' that awaits him.

Keeping hope alive takes intention and dedication. Too often we fall head long into our days without remembering to take it out of the closet that is full of haphazard stacks of mismatched sheets. Too often we forget to place hope firmly in the center of our desk, our table, our front yard, our heart. Hope's very life depends on our invitation to be included in all we do.

On this Monday, the beginning of another week, let us all make room at the center for the hope. Let us give her air and warmth and a place to grow and live. God knows we all need her.