Awake Community Gathers to Reflect on the Virtue of Hope
Last week, the Awake community gathered for a prayer service centered on one of our organization's core values: hope.
“Hope is a core value of the Awake community,” prayer team member Christine Ellerbrock explained, “as we believe that healing and transformation are possible.” The time of prayer asked participants to consider what it is that each individual hopes for in their lives, as well as tangible signs of hope in each person’s life.
The service began with Lamentations 3:21-24, and a reflection by Natalie Pucillo, Awake’s Survivor Resource Intern. In her reflection, Pucillo reflected on the “fleeting moments of hope,” even as those moments are surrounded by lamentation. She shared, “There’s something deeply human and relatable about that. The choice to hope in God doesn’t remove the reality of suffering. Hope doesn’t always provide a satisfying answer. Sometimes it doesn’t come easily, and we have to fight hard to hold it for even a second.”
The service then continued with a reading of Romans 8:24-27 and a reflection by Matt FitzGibbons, a survivor and member of Awake’s prayer team. FitzGibbons invoked the intercession of the Holy Spirit in his reflection as he shared, “In my own life, hope did not arrive in a flash of bright lights. It came quietly, kind of like a whisper that I almost missed. It came in moments of stillness. It came in the presence of people who stayed around me, and in the slow work of healing that pushed me forward even when I stumbled and wanted to give up. Hope chose me back long before I understood it. And the Spirit was there in my silence, in song, and yes, even through the wound, carrying what I could not carry, praying what I could not pray.” Participants then spent time quietly reflecting on the readings while listening to Dan Schutte’s hymn Send Out Your Spirit.
A slideshow of nature images accompanied the time of prayer.
Team member Lynn Charnitz invited participants to reflect and share a tangible sign of hope in their own lives. She remarked, “When someone else speaks about their own hope, it can be an example to us – a reminder of some hopeful thing that we’ve forgotten, or simply a reminder that hope can exist for each of us.”
The service closed with the Ralph Waldo Emerson poem, This is My Wish for You:
Comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,
laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,
beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,
confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth,
love to complete your life.
A recording of the service is available below, ideal for use in personal prayer.
— Natalie Pucillo, Survivor Resource Intern