Greetings in this time of Advent waiting in hope \u2013 that warm green space where we are to pitch our tents.<\/p>\n
Greetings in this time of Advent waiting in hope<\/strong> \u2013 that warm green space where we are to pitch our tents.<\/p>\n After one of our recent presentations on itineration in the US, a new friend asked: “Do you feel optimistic about the future for Roma people \u2013 the Gypsies in Europe?”<\/p>\n We were reminded that optimism and hope<\/strong>\u00a0are not the same.<\/p>\n Optimism is a feeling that things will improve based on some earthly knowledge or proof.\u00a0 Hope<\/strong> however, is about a yearning expectation. We hope<\/strong>\u00a0for “things unseen.\u201d\u00a0 Hope<\/strong>\u00a0yearns\u00a0in faithful expectation that something miraculous will heal what is broken.<\/p>\n Advent hope<\/strong>\u00a0is fulfilled in the miraculous birth of Christ in the hearts of a yearning universe.\u00a0 Sometimes when we are feeling the least optimistic, hearts dead and cold, we tenaciously cling to hope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n