Driving home today, I saw the beautiful Vancouver skyline filled with ashes from the eastern part of Canada, specifically the Jasper region, one of the most beautiful places in the country, if not the world. I remember standing on the majestic Columbia Icefield in Jasper, riding a big vehicle to the heart of the icefield, marveling at its beauty and glory.
Lately, seeing the cities, towns, trees, homes, and communities of Jasper devastated by the fires has been really painful to watch without much crying of tears and aching of hearts. Nowadays, I hear from people of all generations that our world is not the same anymore, as our global and local communities struggle with the deep issues and brokenness of our time.
Our world has just launched the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, with the opening ceremony featuring Celine Dion, a Canadian artist, returning to the stage after a long period of health struggles. On a stage set in the heart of the Eiffel Tower, the landmark of Paris, she sang Hymne à l'amour by French artist Édith Piaf, surprising and dazzling the whole world with her beautiful voice and majestic presence. Her singing was more than a performance as she revealed her audacity and determination to inspire hope against hopelessness in the hearts and minds of people anywhere and everywhere in the world.
The song Hymne à l'amour speaks of a broken love and hope by French artist Édith Piaf. In the lyrics, Édith longs and mourns for her love, Marcel Cerdan, a former French boxer who was killed in the crash of Air France Flight 009 on his way from Paris to New York to see her on October 28, 1949. Towards the end of the song, the lyrics speak of hope by envisioning a day in heaven where there will be no more problems, and God will reunite those who love each other. Can this hope, heard in the incredible voices of Celine Dion, be real?
Last week, I spoke at Hope City Church here in Vancouver, sharing my reflections on the life of Moses and the lives of others who lived their lives inspired by visions of hope, the true hope to be found in the new world to come. I spoke of the life of William Wilberforce, who was inspired by visions of the kingdom that is here and is to come and initiated the work of reforming culture both socially and politically to bring about changes in the world, changes that truly reflect the visions and values of heaven.
Against the hopelessness of the time, when social issues ranging from sexual trafficking to the slave trade, from child labor abuse to the brutal mistreatment of the poor were the norm, William Wilberforce and his friends did not just hope for a better world to come one day to fix everything but engaged through their vocations, the hard work of political, cultural, and spiritual endeavors, to make that hope of a better world real in the world of now by interweaving the visions and values of the new world into the very fabric of their lives and working out of their vocations.
At the dawn of the Olympic opening ceremony, in the voice of Celine Dion, I heard and saw glimpses of hope and heaven coming together. That evening, she truly sang to inspire hope in our world, hope against the dark skies of Canada, hope against the deep brokenness of the world, and hope against the painful struggles of her own life. She inspired true hope in the ears and hearts of many, a true hope that is not just wishful dreams, but one that moves all of us to work towards making it real and tangible in the world of now and not-yet times, the work that continues not only in the voice of Celine Dion but also in our vocations too until the day the hope of heaven returns.
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