An Illustration of Hope

This morning I taught a lesson on the hope of redemption. I set the stage for the conversation with a movie clip from the Shawshank Redemption. What a powerful movie! I showed the part where Andy receives books, records, and a grant to provide a library for the inmates. He puts on one of the records and hears music for the first time in 6 years. It brings him so much joy that he can't help but share it with the other inmates in the prison even though he will get punished for it. As he blasts the beautiful sounds of a woman singing in Italian the other inmates stop what they are doing. The sound of the music captivates them and as one of the other characters says, "It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cave and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free" It's such a powerful scene as all of the men stop in their tracks allowing the music to take them to a place that they had not been in a long time.

Later Andy is talking to his friends about his little stunt with the music after he is released from isolation. Even after two weeks in the hole Andy has a joy and peace about him. Andy expresses that the music was with him even as he spent time in isolation, but his friends don't get what he is talking about. Andy explains what the music does for him, it reminds him that there is something outside of the walls of the prison. The the sound of the music brought him hope and allowed him to hope for something more then his present circumstances.

What an awesome illustration of how the beauty around us gives us hope and reminds us of God and his promises to one day make all things right. It reminds us that there is a Creator whose has blessed us. It reminds us that there is something inside all of us that longs for so much more then sin and brokenness because we have been made in God's image.

I am currently sitting at Starbucks looking outside the window while I write this post. I see beautiful yellow pansies outside, my empty mug next to me that contained a delicious Americano, the empty chair of my dear friend who was here with me just hanging out, the great music playing in my ear, and the clock showing me that in just a few hours I will be able to hug my husband again once he gets off work! I am so thankful for the beauty around me that reminds me of the hope that I have in Christ!

-Lindsey