Hope is a Who
Got a text from a friend on Thanksgiving Day. She wrote, “Instead of giving thanks for all the what’s we’re grateful for, how about giving thanks for the who’s—the people behind those what’s?”
I loved that. Thanks, Rhonda.
It reminded me that life is divinely designed for connection. And maybe that’s why someone once said: The first order of being human is to get your Who right. Not what, how, when, where, or why—but who. Get that right.
Think about it:
At the beginning of every one of us is a Who.
Conception.
Connection.
Even our earliest questions: Who am I? Who are you?
We begin with Who.
We end with Who.
And the entire stretch in between—every beginning, every ending—is shaped by Who.
When the poet feels life collapsing, he cries to a Who: “When my heart is faint, I call to you” (Psalm 61).
When Jesus comforts the anxious, he points us to a Who: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God. Trust me” (John 14:1).
So here we are: Week one of Advent. Hope week.
And I’m thinking about some of the ways hope isn’t a vague feeling or a posture of optimism—it’s a Who.
Hope is a Who—
the one who sees you, listens to you, understands you,
and helps you do what you cannot do alone.
Hope is a Who—
the one who strengthens you, forgives you, trusts you, loves you,
and makes sure there’s a place at the table for you.
And if hope feels thin for you this week, you’re not doing Advent wrong—you’re just human. And the good news is: Hope has already moved toward you.
“She will give birth to a son,” Matthew tells us. “And when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Yeshua—‘Adonai saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.”
Hope is a Who—woven into the divine design of it all.
Much love…and hope,
Pastor Gregg
