Spiritual Quote of the Day (Michael Gerson, on ‘The Wild Hope of a Living God’)

“Those who hold to the wild hope of a living God can say certain things:

“In our right minds – as our most sane and solid selves – we know that the appearance of a universe ruled by cruel chaos is a lie and that the cold void is actually a sheltering sky.

“In our right minds, we know that life is not a farce but a pilgrimage – or maybe a farce and a pilgrimage, depending on the day.

“In our right minds, we know that hope can grow within us – like a seed, like a child.

“In our right minds, we know that transcendence sparks and crackles around us – in a blinding light, and a child’s voice, and fire, and tears, and a warmed heart, and a sculpture just down the hill – if we open ourselves to seeing it.

“Fate may do what it wants. But this much is settled. In our right minds, we know that love is at the heart of all things.

“Many, understandably, pray for a strength they do not possess. But God’s promise is somewhat different: That even when strength fails, there is perseverance. And even when perseverance fails, there is hope. And even when hope fails, there is love. And love never fails.”— Washington Post columnist, PBS NewsHour political analyst, and former White House speechwriter Michael Gerson (1964-2022), Guest Sermon at Washington’s National Cathedral, February 19, 2019

The image accompanying this post was taken of Michael Gerson between 2001 and 2005, when he was director of speechwriting at the White House.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Michael Gerson, on the ‘Waiting People’ of Advent Narratives)

“The Advent narratives are filled with waiting people: Mary, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna. They lived in patient expectation and were receptive to the Good News when it arrived. Their hope did not come as the result of a battle. It came like a seed planted in the ground. Like the sun rising in defiance of night. Like a child growing within his mother.”—Syndicated columnist (and former Presidential speechwriter) Michael Gerson, “Prominent Evangelicals Are Directing Trump’s Sinking Ship. That Feeds Doubts About Religion,” The Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2020

The image accompanying this post is Simeon's Song of Praise (1669), an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606–1669).

Quote of the Day (Michael Gerson, on Politics as a Battlefield)

“Those who see politics only as a method to defeat enemies and advance favored aims have lost sight of something important. We should honor democratic values, such as civility, not only because they make our system function, but because they make our system noble. We should treat our fellow citizens with respect because we share a role in, and responsibility for, an experiment in self-government that remains the last, best hope of Earth.”—Columnist and former Presidential speechwriter Michael Gerson, “The Power of Civility,” The Washington Post, June 7, 2019

(The image accompanying this post was taken when Michael Gerson was part of the George W. Bush administration.)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Michael Gerson, on Advent’s ‘Fullest Expression of Hope’)

“This is the fullest expression of the hope of Advent — that all wrongs will finally be righted, that all the scales will eventually balance, and that no one will be exploited or afraid. But this hope is not yet fulfilled. Poets and theologians have strained for ways to describe this sense of anticipation. It is like a seed in the cold earth. Like the first, barely detectable signs of a thaw. Like a child growing in a womb.”—Syndicated columnist and former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, “A Season for Hope, Not Fear,” The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2019

The image accompanying this post is The Annunciation, a painting in tempura on panel created in 1489 by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli.