In Paul’s great letter to the Corinthians he addresses many issues: conflicts, divisions and hardships abound on every side. The crowning achievement of that letter is the 13th chapter. The chapter on love. At the end of that chapter Paul says that of all the qualities of our faith there are three most important: Faith, hope and love. I would like to spend our time this morning on hope.

In difficult times we must have hope. But hardship is relentless and can come in many ways. I am reminded of Lucy's encouragement to Charlie Brown in one of the Peanuts cartoons. "Look at it this way, Charlie Brown," she consoles. "These are your bitter days. These are the days of your hardship and struggle ..." The next frame goes on: "... but if you just hold your head up high and keep on fighting, you'l…