Coco Calling No.279 - All About Hope in the Darkness

This isn’t a favourite time for parrots in the UK, and I suspect it’s not a favourite time for many humans either. Because the Summer is starting to slip away to become a distant memory; the clocks have changed, and the nights are drawing in; plus, it’s getting colder and the weather is just miserable! Fortunately, we parrots can sprout a few extra feathers to keep ourselves warm, but if we’re not careful, the darker days can draw the ‘extro’ out of our ‘vert.’ And when this happens, -as it inevitably does from time to time, -it’s very important to look out for signs of hope. Because for a Christian parrot like me, true hope is all about clinging onto my faith, even on the very darkest of days.

The other morning, I sneaked upstairs before my owner and his wife were out of bed and landed on the windowsill behind their bedroom curtain. And there, before my eyes, was a wonderful symbol of hope. Because I had a ‘birds’ eye’ view of a spectacular rainbow which seemed to be coming down on one side of the village church. And it served as a timely reminder that even though we can’t always see or sense God in our daily lives, He’s never very far away, whatever our circumstances. And that’s why most versions of the Bible refer to faith more than 400 times. Faith, -just like my beautiful feathers, -helps to get us all through the Winters of our lives.

“Lord, I live in hope. A lovely word. Not the cheap cliché that shrugs its shoulders, smiles and says it’ll be alright on the night. But a deep root that holds me firm in the bedrock of your love. Whatever comes.” 

(Eddie Askew: [1927-2007]: Christian writer, artist and former General Director of The Leprosy Mission (TLM))

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” 

(Bishop Desmond Tutu: [1931-2021): South African Bishop and anti-apartheid campaigner)

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

(Corrie ten Boon: [1892-1983]: Dutch Christian writer who survived internment in a Nazi concentration camp)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”                   (Romans 15:13)