HOPE actually came to me in three seperate dreams - or "visions of the night" - that all "fell together" one morning - as things sometimes seem to do with the Holy Spirit.

I was going through a really bad time and having lots of dreams... a friend had hurt me very deeply the night I had the final dream in which HOPE seemed to be personified - I was in a great state of loss and mourning actually and went to bed in great grief... God sort of swooped me up out of the situation and on into something else --- in the end, what began in a sort of betrayal ended up bringing me a wonderful gift...

My Christian journey began with dreams... so of course I listened intently to this one... and now, when ever I get down, I remember HOPE standing there at the foot of my bed... and I can always smile the same little smile... and carry on hand in hand with GOD and HOPE!

God showed me that HOPE is something that you hold inside somehow... something that you have to realize into being maybe... something that connects you to Him and Him to you... it is always with you, you just have to remember to look at her... her radiance makes everything look different...

HOPE
 (As recorded September 12, 1994)

There dwells
 within my heart
A Virtue.
Her name is
HOPE.

She was
Presented to me
by
The Master,
Himself.
A blessing
 beyond 
imagination!
Unexpected
and
undeserved.

She stands barefoot
upon the
Eternal Flame
 from which
 she emerged.
Fully grown.
Forever Radiant.
Luminesce.

Her eyes
 are of the
 clearest blue.
Tendrils of hair
the colour of
cornsilk
cascade
around
 a face and neck
so exquisite,
so perfect,
 so pure 
as to be impossible
to describe!
Curling 
spun silk
held by
 a circlet of gold
around her crown.


JOY!
radiates
 out from her.
Pure Joy.
And LOVE!
LOVE Divine! 

She is robed
 in a fabric
woven
 with fibers of
light
shot through
 with
 golden threads.


Beautiful HOPE.
Healing and Wholeness.
Omnipotence.
Purpose and Meaning.
Eternal Essence of Life.
Presented by,
in the Power of,
for the Glory of,
and under Authority of
The Master
Himself.


She is
 a part of me
and
I
a part of her,
somehow.
I cannot understand
How this can be. 
And yet I know
 it to be true.
Where one 
begins
and 
the other
ends,
I cannot tell.


Sometimes
 HOPE'S
LIGHT
ethereal
shines
through me.
It is not me.
It is not mine.
And perhaps,
 it is not
all
her own 
LIGHT
either.

For she too,
is a part
 of Something,
of Someone
much greater
than we,
mere mortals,
 can comprehend!

I saw her first
when she
was but a babe.
Perfection.
Purity.
Innocence.
Beauty.
A gift,
she was.
A GIFT
like no other,
and presented by,
 perhaps,
The Ancient of Days
Himself?
or
One of
 His Representatives?



...The Journey...
I made
a journey
to 
A Special Place.
Accompanied
 by a female
companion
as ancient
 and as wise 
as time itself
it seemed.

She hovered
 with great
 Love
and
care.
Her  mother heart
knowing
what lie in store
for us.
The peril.
The danger.
She would have
willingly given
 her life
for ours,
I'm sure.

I never saw her face.
Hidden, she was,
by a mantle
of heavy cloth
and
dark.
I never knew
her name.
Yet still,
I felt 
I knew her well;
Have always known her.


Together 
we concealed
the Blessed Gift
beneath a cloak
and in 
a cloak of flesh.
But, alas,
bound so tightly
to my side,
flesh
on
flesh,
she perished
 on the 
journey
homeward.

No breath
within
her tiny
frame
when we arrived.
A limp and flaccid
vessel,
empty of life
was all
we held.

Her flesh was 
cold
and pasty.
Her features pressed
askew,
asunder.
Pressed out of shape
this glorious face!
Her eyes 
like glass
stared lifeless,
empty,
no spirit
 glow
inside.


Like clay she was,
so cold
and
damp.
Gray in pallor;
Yes - like clay...
so much like clay
and lifeless.
Heavy.
Void.

Her face
 I could not bear
 this way
to leave.
And 
tenderly
my heart did move
 to touch
to try
to shape,
to mold
the face
 again
into the beauty
I had seen
before.
Restore as best
I could
the tiny face,
the features.
 
My eyes
 could not
contain
 the sorrow.
...Defeated...


Yet through
 Hands of LOVE
LIGHT did return.
The breath 
within 
the tiny
BABE
waxed warm
and 
LIVED.

She travelled
far with me,
this child
called
HOPE,
across and through
the years of time.
Only 
vaguely,
was I
aware
 of her
small
presence
there,
through 
 tests and trials
that came
 life's way.
 Yet,
 She was there.
She was always there
deep within
my heart.


She was 
my HOPE.
My inspiration.
She grew
but
 was not strong;
Indeed!
She was quite weak,
feeble
and
sickly.
A fragile thing.


And then,
One night
she finally died
cradled
in my arms.
Crushed by
the weight of
human
sin
and
sorrow.
The very
life and breath
squeezed
 out of her.

She gasped
 under
the weight of it.
She could no more
 endure the pain, 
the separation
from
The Source
of her
existence.
This heavy burden
here
 on earth
came bearing down
too hard
on her.
She could not
cling
to life.

She gasped
and
 died.
And there I stood
between
Heaven
and
earth
cradling her
 in my arms.

The Child
of my HOPE
was gone.

Through the Gates
of Heaven.
I carried her
HOME.
For this place,
is the place
 from whence
she had come.
I held her
close to my heart,
looking,
searching
longing
for
The Master.

And...
There He was
before me.
He saw
 and
 knew
my pain,
my grief,
my sorrow.
His too,
was great.
Pain glistened 
in His eyes.

To think
that such
A Gift
as this
should perish
in the earth.

Together
we offered her
into
The Eternal Flame.

And
...she was gone...

All trace of her
was gone.
My grief was
overwhelming.
The pain
too much
to  bear.


This is how
 it came to pass
that
she returned
to me.

Resurrected.
Fully grown,
strong
 and
 beautiful
 beyond comparison.
Eternal.
Everlasting
Undying
and
 more powerful
 than ever!
HOPE.

Waves of 
LOVE
and
JOY
washed over me. 
Filled me again.


I shall never
lose
HOPE.
My HOPE
lies in
The LORD.
This is
The GIFT
that
Jesus
has given me.


Everything
is
A GIFT
when it is taken
and
viewed
in the
positive
LIGHT
of the
CROSS.


I had to 
lose
The Child
of
HOPE.
I had to
let her go
so that
she 
could be
re-created,
perfected
and
born
anew
within.

...HOPE never dies...

HOPE!


HOPE

      Healing & Wholeness 
      Omnipotence
      Purpose & Meaning
      Eternal Essence of Life

(c) Copyright Bette Boyd
December 11, 1995

Please do not copy or use HOPE anywhere without my permission . 
Thank You.


According to Carl Jung: The Angel personifies the coming into consciousness of something new arising from the deep unconsciousness..."

Angel: a messenger of God. A supernatural being of more than human power, intelligence etc.. A guiding spirit. A conventionalized image of a figure in a human form with wings and a halo.

Virtue: General  moral excellence; goodness of character. Chastity. Excellence in general; merit. A specific excellence; good quality. Efficacy; potency; especially healing power, as of medicine.

The Hierarchy of Angels;
First Hierarchy: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones.
Second Hierarchy: Dominions, Virtues, Powers.
Third Hierarchy: Princedoms, Archangels, Angels.

Luminesce: any giving off of light caused by the absorption of radiant energy.

Radiant: Shining brightly. Filled with light. Showing love, joy well being etc.. Issuing from a source in or as in rays, branching out in all directions from a common centre.

Omnipotence: having unlimited power or authority.
(Having access to unlimited power or authority.)