Oh Snap! It's 2021
Musings
Robriv
Well we are nearly one month into 2021, the sequel to 2020 (the year nobody asked for). If 2020 was Infinity War, let’s hope that we can collectively snap 2021 into an Endgame-type year. After much heartbreak and the loss of loved ones, the crisis is resolved. And while some things may never be the same, we fix our eyes on the next phase of life.
Fine, we’re not living in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU, for the nerds). Wait, I just had a darker thought. What if 2020 was The Last Jedi and 2021 is The Rise of Skywalker. No, think happy thoughts. Even the Mandalorian gives us hope for Star Wars’ future.
Hope.
I love that word (though it’s overused in Rogue One). In fact, hope is the theme of most of my writings. It is such a powerful word. Maybe that’s why I love Star Wars. It is built on the idea that there is hope for better things. I mean, it’s not just Star Wars. Harry Potter is built on the premise of love and hope. Lord of the Rings hangs on the themes of hope and providence. In fact, hope is what drives some of the best narratives. Hope is what Matt Damon has in the multiple movies where he is to be rescued (Saving Private Ryan, Interstellar, and The Martian). Hope is what drove Sandra Bullock to the hospital in While You Were Sleeping to check up on her crush, which she happened to save from the CTA train tracks, that he might wake up and love her. What? I can’t enjoy a fun rom-com? Fine, hope is what kept Sandra Bullock struggling to stay alive in space in the movie Gravity. Happy?
But why hope?
I think hope is grafted into our very souls. Without it, we are lost. Without it, the future is dim. A fading hope sounds terrifying. But hope is a theme that has existed since Genesis chapter 3. There will be a snapping of the finger but it won’t be by us. When Christ returns, he will set all things right. Check out these amazing verses:
“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” - 1 Peter 1:3-5
I’m not proclaiming the 2021 return of Jesus. My hope, however, is not diminished by 2020.
