Skip to main content

prisoners of hope

"prisoners of hope"
paper collage on hardcover book board
september, 2011
gregory a. milinovich

i haven't been as prolific with my collaging recently.  i'll have to blame that on quin and the new zone defense.  still, i've had a few minutes to make a few things from time to time, and thought i'd share one of them today.  this is a new one i made called "prisoners of hope," which is a reference to zechariah 9:12, in which God tells the prisoners to return to Jerusalem, or to the city of safety, for they will be doubly blessed.  God calls them "prisoners of hope," rather than prisoners of the enemies. 

the phrase compels me:  prisoners of hope.  when we are suffering at the hands of some situation or some circumstance, we may think of ourselves as captives.  captives to stress.  to fear.  to anxiety.  captives to our financial hardships.  captives to our career situations.  prisoners of our circumstances.  surely we all suffer in some ways. 

but God may have a different way of framing our situation.  it just might be what led paul to write that the early Christians should rejoice even in their sufferings.  God doesn't call us prisoners of suffering, or prisoners of exile, or prisoners of our unfortunate circumstances.  no, God calls us prisoners of hope.  for it is hope that holds us in the midst of every trial and tribulation.  it is hope that sustains in the mdist of whatever prison we may find ourselves in, whether it be the very real bars of an institution, or the equally powerful chains of guilt or shame.  whatever it is that holds you in it's iron grip, God has a different way of looking at it.  hold onto your hope.  hold onto the idea that it doesn't have to be like this...that things can - and will! - change.  hold onto the reality that everything that is broken will, in time, be redeemed and made right.  even the situation you are in.  even the exile that you are experiencing.  even the anxiety that is costing you sleep.  yes, this too, will be made right.  believe it.  hope for it.  and be prisoners of that hope 
Labels:

Comments

Greg C. said…
Love that.
3:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh.  one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.'  when you do so, some of the following gems show up.  thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up.  otherwise, it would certianly make this list!  please laugh freely and without inhibition.  thank you and have a nice day. 
3 comments
keep reading

happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus...
6 comments
keep reading

i'm giving away the swamp

so this is a collage called swamp. i made it in february of last year. it is currently framed in a homemade, hand-painted frame. it is paper collage on a book binding panel. it is 7" x 10". and i am giving it away. i've been wanting to have a blog giveaway for some time, and the time has finally arrived. here's how it works. all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. by leaving a comment you are automatically entered into the contest (as long as your comment offers a way for me to get in touch with you, or you know that i know you). the contest will be open until next wednesday at noon, eastern standard time. at that time the contest will officially be closed and i will pick a random number. the person whose comment matches that number wins! for example, if i happen to pick the number 33, the thirty-third comment will win. oh, and one more rule: you can only post ONCE. if you win, i will send you the collage, signed by me, the artist, free of c...
29 comments
keep reading