Thoughts on Hope

So, I've started treadmilling it every night- long story for another post, but I'm getting caught up on my church magazines in the process. Tonight I reread an article that I'd read during my last treadmilling experience a few months ago. I saw it on the cover and realized that now it had a completely new meaning (boy is it amazing how much can change in a few months). So it's from June 2009 Ensign article, "Hope: The Misunderstood Sister" and the article was great, but it was the poem that I loved. It brought me great peace (and a few tears, always fun to cry while you're on the treadmill, at least I wasn't at the gym- that's always embarrassing).

Walking with Two Sisters

By Larry Hiller

Faith walks before me,
Holding up her lamp
As I try not to stumble in the ink-dark hours before the dawn.
Her light illuminates
One step and then another.
Beside me, Hope, arm linked with mine, encourages and steadies.
Sometimes in the tedium,
Distracted by the pain,
My mind begins to wander, then my feet. I hesitate.
Unsure, I look to Hope.
Her hand takes mine.
The touch reminds me of another hand held out to me,
One pierced and scarred
Yet oh so tender
Lifting me and blessing me when I had fallen and despaired.
Remembering,
I move ahead
Buoyed up by Hope, who sees the end with perfect clarity.