"to Christ I look, on Christ I call."

The following poem by G.M. Hopkins does a beautiful job of capturing the fact that our hopes must ultimately be placed in Christ alone, for He alone on earth possesses perfection. Hopkins did not name this poem, and so it is simply headed in my collection of his poetry as "16."

"Myself unholy, from myself unholy

To the sweet living of my friends I look –

Eye-greeting doves bright-counter to the rook,

Fresh brooks to salt sand-teasing waters shoaly: --

And they are purer, but alas! not solely

The unquestion’d readings of a blotless book.

And so my trust, confusèd, struck, and shook

Yields to the sultry siege of melancholy.

He has a sin of mine, he its near brother;

Knowing them well I can but see the fall.

This fault in one I found, that in another:

And so, though each have one while I have all,

No better serves me now, save best ; no other

Save Christ: to Christ I look, on Christ I call."

Foundation for Hope and Joy

As part of a Bible Study at my Church we are reading through the end of the New Testament and getting together once a week to discuss it. Currently we are working on 1 Peter. As I was reading it today, a couple sections reminded me of an insight shared in our Pastor's sermon about a month ago. It was (and is) rather challenging to me, so I wanted to share it with you. Oh, and if you are looking for a section of Scripture to camp out in for a while, 1 Peter is excellent! I'll have to devote some time in a future post to cover some of the main ideas which keep jumping out at me while I'm reading...but in the meantime, you ought to dive in yourself!

Back to the challenging idea. Our hope should stem from the Resurrection proof that Christ has won the victory over sin and evil. It should not be based in our circumstances being fixed up the way we want them. Peter touches on this idea at the beginning his first epistle: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:3-7 ESV)


If this is true, if my hope should be based in Christ's victory over evil, then my joy should not flow from my present circumstances. Further, if my life were filled with misery from now to its end, I should still be able to hope and have joy in and through Christ. Right now I know that my hope easily ends up being placed on my present trials ending instead of Christ's Kingdom being fully established. That kind of thinking shows my pride. Me and my happiness are at the center of the universe, not God and His glory. Father, please keep directing my gaze back to You, your Kingdom and Your glory.