Day 1 - Hope

Acrylic on Foam Board

"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 crum--of me.

--- Emily Dickinson

I begin my quest with hope--something I've been lacking of late. I actually painted this before I knew it was hope. I'm still not 100% sure it is hope, but it's living into the name. May my quest for God through creation give me hope.

Hope is born when grace breaks down the barriers of fear. Hope offers us no glib assertion that everything is going to be alright. Hope does not take away the trouble. Hope changes the impact of trouble upon us. Hope changes the way we face that which is not alright. Hope gives us the courage to struggle. Hope gives us the strength to live and the courage to endure.

-- R. Kirby Godsey "Children of Hope"