I love the old traditional Christmas movies. This one is no exception. Miracle on 34th Street is story about a single mother and her daughter, and the efforts of two men who try to offer a world of imagination and faith to each of them. Susan's mother has raised her to only accept absolute truth, and never to learn fairy tales or believe in the things unseen. This is stemmed from the way she herself views the world after her own life experiences.
Susan was growing up to a world without faith. She was distrustful of the things she could not see or verify for herself. Let's consider the definition of faith. "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." ~Hebrews 11:1 (NLT). Faith cannot exist without hope. It was the desire for good things that was ultimately missing in Susan's and her mother's thoughts. Each was afraid to hope, afraid to desire the good things, thus not even being able to imagine the unseen or have confidence in that hope.
Have you ever lost hope? Just imagine what you felt like as a little child, unspoiled by the world on the eve before Christmas morning. You were filled with hope for things desired, full of anticipation for the things to appear below the Christmas tree. You had faith in Santa Claus.
I would like to challenge all of us adults to renew that childlike hope for God's promises. When our hope grows, then our faith becomes renewed. It is by faith… well, read the rest of chapter 11 of Hebrews to see what the people of old could accomplish through faith.
"O Lord, You alone are my hope. I've trusted You, O Lord, from childhood." ~Psalms 71:5 (NLT)
Amazing thoughts and well put. Your words contain the small spark that can ignite. More of us need to be inspired. Keep up the good work Kathy.
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