most hopeful

There’s a fear of what we do not know.

We stand here, looking at what is behind us.
We know clearly what we hope carries into the days ahead,
and what we hope can be left here, in what has already been.

We can speak clearly and eloquently about
what does not belong in the way things should be,
But our tongue becomes tired and slurred with
what it is we hope for in the world and ways ahead.

And it is here
that we realize
we are afraid of what we do not know
we are afraid of where we have not been
we are afraid of what we cannot imagine

And yet, in our deepest gut on our best days
we know that where we are comfortable
is not where we have been called
we know that where we are safe
is not where we engage as we have been made to engage

So we find ourselves praying for courage
So we find ourselves hoping for vision
So we find ourselves putting down ambition

And we hope to find ourselves courageous
And we hope to find ourselves imaginative
And we hope to find ourselves obedient

And we take one step at a time
into the new world
we fear because it is made of things we do not know