SPECIAL ART ISSUE: Hope In The Darkness

Dec 02, 2024

As we move into the wait of Advent and the shortest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, we invited our contributors and readers to share their reflections on what it means to lean into hope in the darkness. We have visual art, poetry, music, and prose in this issue. May this issue of The Sage Forum give you a few moments of respite, peace, and reflection from the seemingly-unending maelstrom of wild news on the internet.

Hope may seem irrational. It may seem impossible some days. And yet, as Nobel prize winning novelist and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel observed, “Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.” Hope is a gift of faith in the One who was born in backwater Bethlehem 2000 years ago, and it is our prayer that this December, you will tap into this gift, even when the darkness seems like it might be trying to have the final word in our world.

Grateful for you,

Michelle Van Loon for the entire Sage Forum team

Candle in the Darkness

Painting by Lila Diller

Perfect In The Imperfect

by Rachel Campbell

He Shall Feed His Flock

Carole Duff, flute, Carol Wallace, organ, “He Shall Feed His Flock” from Handel’s Messiah. Performed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Fishersville, VA.

Still we Wait

by Sue Fulmore

Out of the Mud

Mixed media by Lila Diller

Rags To Riches

April S. Fields

It was only September but she had no idea how she would buy groceries much less provide Christmas for her kids. She had run out of options with the borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

She bit her lip to thwart the tears. She was praying in silent desperation for God to help her when the phone rang. Her friend Cyndy invited her to lunch. Because she could be totally honest with her friend she admitted she was flat broke and could not afford to eat out. Cyndy replied, 'Pick you up at 11:30'.

Cyndy was her usual bubbly self, full of interesting things to talk about. The age thirty something friends ate a burger and fries and then Cyndy announced she needed to buy a present. They drove to a small house converted to a gift shop - Granny's Attic. They wandered around the eclectic establishment filled with crafts, gadgets, handmade quilts.

One display caught her eye and she paused to take a closer look. The sign read - Pickled People - the small soft sculpted heads stuffed in a pickle jar were equally funny and disgusting but she told herself - I could do that.

When Cyndy dropped her home, she pulled her scrap fabric box out of the hall closet, choosing soft remnants of flannel. Within an hour she had transformed fabric, pantyhose, and stuffing from an old pillow into a sweet baby doll.

The next day she returned to Granny's Attic to show the owner her creation. She bit her lip holding it together when the lady asked her how soon she could bring in a dozen.

A week later she entered Granny's Attic at noon with a dozen different soft sculpted babies. Three ladies on their lunch break walked in with her and as she approached the desk the ladies started grabbing the dolls. Every single doll sold within minutes.

And, as it turned out, it was pay day for Granny's Attic consignees. She went straight to the bank, then Hancock's Fabrics, then the grocery store, biting her lip to keep from crying tears of gratitude.

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

The Sage Forum