Good morning…
The Juneteenth holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans on this day in 1865. June 19th is the perfect day for the Obama Presidential Center, in the south side of Chicago, to open its welcoming doors to the public. In yesterday’s opening ceremony, Michelle Obama spoke these encouraging words.
“Y’all, hope is all we have,
because hope is
the essential spark
that lights the fire of change.
But hope is a choice.
Whether we use our voices
to speak up
is a choice.
Voting is a choice.
Being a decent human being
is a choice.
Believing that we still
have the power
to build a country
that reflects us all
is a choice.”
By choice, we hope. By choice, we spark. By choice, we speak up. By choice, we vote. By choice, we are decent. By choice, we believe and we build and we reflect.
And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love (Romans 5:3-5, VOICE).
Y’all, hope is a gift from God, and hope is all we have.
…Sue…
