Cedric Pisegna - Hope, That Thing With Feathers
Hi, I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, the host of «Live with Passion»! So glad that you tuned in. I’m talking about hope. This comes from 1 Peter chapter 1: «Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy, we have been born an new to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you». People are always hoping. There was a song written by Dusty Springfield years ago, «wishing and hoping and dreaming and living, wishing, and hoping».
You see, people have hope, but biblical hope is different. In society, people hope for a better job, and they hope to go on vacation. They hope that they’ll find a husband and wife. They’ll hope for getting better health and that kind of a thing. I hope it rains. I hope it’s sunny. Whatever it is has to do with optimism or wishing, looking on the bright side of life, but biblical hope is more than wishing or hoping. It’s more than Pollyanna optimism. There’s a certainty, an assurance, an inner knowing, a dependability to biblical hope. Hope is all over the place in the Bible. For example, we’re told in Jeremiah that we have a «future full of hope».
That Jeremiah 29:11. «Hope is the anchor of our soul». «We’re saved by hope». This is right from the Bible. «Hope lasts forever». «We have a living hope». We just heard that from 1 Peter and then talks about the imperishable inheritance. There’s a certainty. There is something sure and rock solid, not Pollyanna. «We’re a prisoner of hope». That comes from the prophets. And I love this: «God is the God of hope». That’s how God is called in the Bible, «the God of hope». And then, «hope does not disappoint».
Oftentimes in life, we’re so disappointed by things that we’re hoping for. As I said, in our culture and society, it just sets us up to get disappointed, but biblical hope will not disappoint. It will come true, and it will be everything that we’re hoping for. Hope is such a beautiful virtue. As I said, it lasts forever. Three things last forever: faith, hope, and love. And one day, it’ll be hope realized in heaven lasts forever, and hope lifts us up. It energizes us. It gives us power, if you will. Because if you’re a hopeful person, you’re not down in the dumps. You’re not depressed. You’re living with believing that something good is on the horizon. Something beautiful is yet to come. The best is yet to come.
Emily Dickinson, a great poet, said, «Hope is that thing with feathers». And why does she talk about hope being that thing with feathers? Because feathers are what makes a bird fly, and in the same way, hope energizes us and inspires us and in some ways makes us fly in life, so we’re not down. We’re optimistic. And hope lifts our hearts and our spirits, especially in the face of suffering. Wanted to talk with you about Viktor Frankl. He was held in a Nazi concentration camp. I read his book, «Man’s Search For Meaning».
This is Viktor Frankl. He was a psychiatrist, psychologist in the Second World War, held in Auschwitz. He saw the worst of society, people killing themselves because they had given up hope, but he had hope, and this is what saved him. He had hope of being reunited with his wife, and that hope kept him, energized him, and gave him inspiration. Unfortunately, he never did see his wife again, but it was hope that kept him alive, and that’s exactly what hope does. It’s that thing with feathers. It makes us fly. Are you a person of hope? And I hope you are. Because to me, every day, hope gives energy to my life. Without hope, I never would have become a priest. I wouldn’t even be a Christian. It’s that reality that lasts forever. It’s already begun.
One day, it’ll be hope realized of a significant, better future. We just heard 1 Peter. It’s a living hope. It’s not something that’s gonna disappoint us. And then, as soon as Peter wrote that, he said, «It’s a living hope,» and he talked about an «imperishable inheritance» kept in heaven for us. You have an inheritance. That’s our hope. I’m believing. I’m hoping. I know it’s an inner assurance. It’s a blessed assurance of this wonderful inheritance that God has for us: «kept in heaven, imperishable».
That’s our hope, and our hope is to be with God, to be reunited with our loved ones. It’s gonna be beautiful. When I talk about hope, certainly there’s hope for heaven. We know about that in the great reunion. Just talked about that, a living hope. But our hope is also for right now. It’s Jeremiah 29:11. I quoted that before. «I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for a future full of hope». God has plans for our life. He has a will. He has a destiny for all of us, and it’s something good. That’s what hope means, that there’s something good in our future. The best is yet to come. We can believe that right now, God has good plans for us. God wants us to live a life of abundance, life of blessing, filled with grace in the Holy Spirit.
This series is all about how God is with us, and that should fire our hope, that should ignite our hope, realizing that because God is with us, it’s all over but the shouting. There’s much more to come, and his destiny and future for us right now is full of hope. He providentially leads us into a life of fruitfulness, and biblical hope, of course, has to do with the life to come. «We are in Easter People and Alleluia is our song»!
But right now, God gives favor, opens doors, gives us opportunities, blesses our life. We can expect favor in good things because of God’s presence with us. That’s hope. If you are struggling, downcast, and hurting, wondering if there’s anything good coming to hold on. Things are gonna change. The downs in life are just a season, but a new season is coming. Hold on just for today. That’s one of the phrases in the 12 step program: one day at a time, just for today. Be sober just for today, one day at a time. Don’t look at the whole thing ahead of you that you don’t know. Hold on. Be strong. Be a person of hope. Hope will last forever. Hope is living. Hope energizes us. Hope is that thing with feathers that inspires us and makes us fly.
Hope is believing that something good is gonna happen. It’s in God’s plan and Providence. God has a unique road map for each of our life, and it will happen. Even when we struggle with trials and tribulations, somehow, some way, God knows how to write straight with our crooked lines, and it will happen. But all of us suffer, and we go through trials. And sometimes, when we’re in tribulations, we go, «Where is hope»? Hope is diminished. «Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick,» as it said in Proverbs. Well, hope is believing that out of the tragedy of injustice or whatever struggles or trials or sufferings that you have, God is up to something, and he was up to something.
For example, in the Crucifixion of Jesus, his disciples lost all hope and gave up. The road to Emmaus, they were going the wrong way. Jesus, the risen Jesus, had to turn them around and reappoint them. They were disappointed. But God brought Resurrection out of Jesus’s suffering and death. Because God is the God of hope. In the midst of your suffering, I want you to believe that God can bring new life through your suffering. 'Cause suffering doesn’t mean that God abandoned you. Remember what I said. God has a plan and a purpose, and he walks with us in it, even in the midst of the trials and the tragedies, even in the midst of the hardships. Hold on to the God of hope.
Women love to wear pearls, of course, and pearls are attractive and valuable. But do you know where the pearls come from? There’s a little oyster down at the bottom of the sea, and he has a little opening. And he opens his mouth a little bit, and a piece of sand, an irritant, gets in there. And the oyster hates it because it hurts, and he works on it and works on it and pushes it and works on it. Finally, after all that work and trial and irritation, a beautiful pearl is produced, and that’s why it’s so valuable. Diamonds are formed by the pressure of the Earth. In the darkness of the Earth, there’s hard pressure coal. Finally, after all that pressure, a diamond is formed, and it’s very valuable. Sometimes it’s the darkness and the pressure of life that can bring out the diamonds in us.
I remember I was watching the US Open Tennis tournament. Right before you step onto center court, in front of tens of thousands of people in a worldwide audience on TV, the quote from Billie Jean King, «Pressure is a privilege». And I agree with that because when I have to preach or produce for television, there’s pressure, but I look at it this way: It’s all about perspective. Pressure can destroy you, but it can also be an opportunity to do something great with your life. It’s a privilege. So you gotta be a person of hope. Hope is that thing with feathers. It lifts us up, and hope is believing that we are being transformed, like the oyster producing the pearl in the midst of the trials and the tribulations.
Hope is the eager anticipation that all of life is good and blessed, and I will be fruitful. We have a saint in the Catholic Church, Saint Julian of Norwich, a great lover of God and wrote many things about God. Jesus spoke to her, and this is a very famous quote. He told Julian, «All will be well, All will be well, And all manner of things, All will be well». You might be thinking to yourself, «My life right now is not going well. I am having difficulties and hardships and sufferings». That’s why: Hold on to hope. Hold on to the God of hope, and trust what Jesus said to Saint Julian of Norwich. «All will be well, All will be well, In all manner of things, All will be well». Talking about sufferings.
You see, hope is for the life to come. Of course, we have a living hope, but hope is also for right now, and I’m trying to instill that in you. Even if you’re suffering, we can look at parables from life, like an oyster, like a diamond. And what about roses? I love roses. Oftentimes, after I do a production, I buy some roses just to celebrate and let them sprout on my desk and love to look at them. They’re so beautiful. Some say roses have thorns, and I say thorns have roses. The thorns of your life, the hurts, the difficulties, the sufferings, they produce something beautiful. If you’re a person of hope and you don’t give up, you have to realize that God is up to something. God is the God of hope. You’ve probably heard about the phoenix. Not the city of phoenix.
Talking about the mythological bird. The phoenix was a mythological bird, big huge bird, and toward the end of its life cycle, it would build a nest. And then the nest would catch fire, and the nest and the phoenix would burn to ashes. But the story of the phoenix is this. That wasn’t the end. Out of the ashes, out of its demise, out of its hurt, a new phoenix would rise. Wanna tell you that out of your addictions, out of your habitual sin, out of the hurts of your life, the betrayal, the abuse, a new you can rise. You see, that’s hope. That’s biblical hope. That’s why we hold on to the God of hope. It’s not optimism. It’s not Pollyanna optimism. It’s not what this society says is hope. It’s real rock-bottom hope.
In fact, one of the images in the Scriptures that comes from the book of Hebrews is that hope is the anchor for our soul. And you know what an anchor does? It holds a ship fast in the midst of a storm, so it won’t be tossed and turned by the waves in the storm. The anchor actually holds it in place so that it won’t be destroyed. In the same way, hope holds us in the midst of the trials and the tribulations of life. Hope are the feathers of our soul. Hope lifts us up. Hope energizes us, especially in trials and sufferings, when it can be hard. Heard about a man who is shipwrecked, and he was very dismayed and upset and didn’t know what to do. And he decided I better build a hut.
So he built a little hut full of wood. There was nobody around. He was shipwrecked on this island out there in the middle of nowhere. And then he went off to find some food, but before he did, he built a little fire right by the hut. Went off to find some food, and he comes back with some bananas and coconuts and everything. And the wind had blown the fire onto the hut, and he got all upset, threw the food down, started yelling at God. He said, «God, why did you do this to me? First, the shipwreck. I tried to do something here with my life, and now this. Everything’s gone». About an hour later, a ship came into the harbor, and the man was saved. And the man said, «I’m in the middle of nowhere. How in the world did you find me»? And the captain said, «It was easy. We saw your smoke signal».
And oftentimes, it’s the fires of life, when we think things are at their worst, God is in it, working through it to provide for us, to provide for us a glorious future. See, that’s hope. God knows how to use the fires and the hardships and the sufferings of our life to bring new life. Psalm 42, David was going through some terrible hardships, King David, and he stirred himself up. And oftentimes, that’s what you have to do. You gotta be a person of hope. You can’t wait for everybody to lift you up. You gotta lift yourself up. I love what it says in the Scriptures, that «David encouraged himself».
You got to encourage yourself, be your own best friend, be a person, hope is a choice. It’s true. It’s real, and it’s living, but it’s also a choice that you have to make for yourself in the midst of your sufferings. It’s exactly what Viktor Frankl did. I already told you that story, that in the midst of it, when people were committing suicide, he kept hope, and that hope brought him through the whole thing, through his misery. Anyway, King David, Psalm 42, he wrote, «Why are you cast down, my soul»? People were against him. They wanted him out. King Saul was trying to kill him. «Why are you cast down, my soul? Hope in God. I will praise him still».
And as I said, God is called the God of hope, and we will praise him still. It’s amazing how I go through seasons in my life, the ups and the downs. When I’m up, I’m praising God. When I’m down, it’s hard to praise God, but God always takes me from the downs to back up. And I’ve learned to keep hope even in the down moments. Because I will praise him still. And I hope the same for you, that you’ll realize that your down moments, your hardships, your problems, your grieving, your struggling isn’t the end, can be a new beginning, just like the shipwreck and the fire, just like the rose and the thorns, just like the oyster and the pearls. God is up to something.
Yes, hope is for the future, but it’s also for right now. It’s really important that we be a person of hope, and hope is also for life after death, as we know. And one of the issues that people are going through, and I’ve been through it and many people that I talk to are going through, is grieving. Grieving is one of the hardest sufferings that we go through, and it’s hard to have hope when you’re grieving the loss of a loved one. I lost my best friend, my dad, 23 years ago, my beloved mom 10 years ago. They were my biggest supporters. They loved me. I’m the third of three children, the only boy, and it was so hard for me. And I had the funeral services for my mom and dad. Grieving is a process, and you move through stages of bewilderment, confusion, bargaining, anger. You can feel orphaned and alone.
But Paul wrote about this about grieving in his letter to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4:13. He said, «I don’t want you to grieve like people that don’t have hope,» and he talked about death as being asleep. So in other words, hope energizes us, but it also, it’s like iodine on the wounds. It brings healing, the healing of hope, especially if you’re grieving. You see, grieving is hard, and it hurts because there’s separation, but hope tells us that there’s gonna be a great reunion. Now remember, God gave me this inspiration about grieving from real life. I used to live in California. My parents lived in Florida. Couple times a year, I would fly out there to Florida to see him. That’s 3,000 miles apart.
The interesting thing is even if it had been six months since I had seen my parents, as soon as I arrived there, as soon as I started talking to 'em, it was like no time had passed. We got right back into the conversation, right back into the relationship, right as if I had seen them yesterday. And as I was thinking about that, about how that reunion was so refreshing, God spoke to me and said, «Cedric, that’s the way it’s gonna be in heaven in the great reunion. It’s gonna be as if there was no time had passed, and your reunion will be like it was just yesterday».
And that helped me so much to grieve and to grieve them well, knowing that a great reunion is coming, and that it’s gonna be just like yesterday. We’re gonna get right back where we left off. And I tell people grieve well. What do I mean by that? Go through the stages, come to acceptance, but grieve with hope because hope is healing, hope being great reunion is coming, heaven’s on the way, God is helping us. And if you’re grieving right now, I understand. It’s hard. Remember Jesus, he wept for his friend Lazarus. And I want to tell you that when you grieve with hope, there is healing, and you can do it. Hold on. A new day is coming.
I was touched when I was 19 years old. Almost left the Catholic Church, big, anonymous, cold, unengaging. Tried other denominations. Each had its own way and its own charm and truth. But I came across this phrase from a group in the Catholic Church called The Christophers: «Better to Light one candle Than to curse the darkness». That phrase gave me direction in my life. I stayed a Catholic, and instead of complaining, I tried to be a light, a light of hope in the Catholic Church. And I’m being that by writing, by producing, by preaching.
And I found out that people of hope in our church live differently. Instead of complaining and bringing other people down, they try to be a light in the salt of the Earth and the light of the world. And I’ve met people of hope in our church and other denominations who live differently. They’re people of hope, and you can see it in their eyes. You can see it in their face that they reach out to migrants. They advocate pro-life. They educate our young. They get involved in community, helping people.
I’m talking about nurses, doctors, caregivers, teachers, social workers, priests, ministers, sisters, brothers, people of hope. People of hope live differently. Do not let the dark things of life drag you down. Hold on to God, to God, who is the God of hope. Three things last forever: faith, hope, and love. Our hope is very different from the hope of our society. Our hope anchors our soul, brings healing, and keeps us lifted up. Hope is that thing with feathers. And as you’ve listened to this episode, no matter where you are in your life, may you be filled with hope, may God lift you up and bring you eternal life. I pray that hope, that thing with feathers, will bring you healing, lift you up, energize your life, and make you live differently. Don’t just live. Live with passion.