Celebrations of Hope Dinners An Uplifting Experience
Last week we invited members and Friends of Little Fork Church to our Celebrations of Hope dinners. These dinners were held over the week to allow people to discuss avenues of how Little Fork can be a place of hope. We are off to a great start! In all, 46 people attended the dinners and participated in the discussions.
Little Fork is committed to becoming a place of hope for the community. We discussed the difference between optimism and hope. Rev. Stacy presented a writing by Henri Nouwen, who explained it like this:
Optimism is the expectation that things will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.[1]
Many of us are concerned that much of the world is in a place of hopelessness and despair. We talked about our relationship with Little Fork, how generations have worshipped here, grieved and celebrated in the church and on its grounds. In times of anguish and grief how we feel held in comfort and in times of elation how we feel held in joy. Within the next year, Little Fork will be planning ways to give hope to those in need by using creativity, the natural beauty and solace in our grounds, and spirituality.
Thank you to everyone who participated in these dinners and we look forward to experiencing and finding hope together!