A month before Christmas, while we are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we think about four central Christian attitudes toward life: Hope, Faith, Joy, Love.  If we want to follow Jesus, we want to learn to look at the world this way.

Hope is expectant waiting, between the birth of Jesus and the time he comes again to create a new heaven and new earth.  Hope is knowing that this particular moment, any particular moment, something of the eternal is present.

The Psalms and the Prophets talk a lot about waiting on the Lord.  Here is the end of Psalm 33 with a common refrain of the Psalms, and then one of my favorite passages from Isaiah.

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Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.   (Psalm 33:20-22)

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But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.   (Isaiah 40:31)