Good afternoon, everyone. It’s a special occasion today to gather and pray for justice for Hong Kong. Over the past few years, I’ve learned from many Hong Kongers about their lives both in Hong Kong and here in the UK. Leaving their homeland to find a new life here in the UK is a monumental step, and this service is our way of saying welcome. We are glad you are here, and we hope you find a prosperous future and renewed hope among us.
Hope is described in the Bible as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. However, hope can often feel empty, especially during dark and challenging times, like those experienced by the Hong Kongers. It can seem fragile and more like wishful thinking than a tangible reality.
The atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had a bleak view of hope and once said, “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.” His perspective was shaped by a bleak view of existence, where hope merely extends suffering.
In the same period of history, a painter named George Frederick Watts, living through personal tragedy after the death of his granddaughter, found himself confronting similar doubts. Watts expressed his feelings of uncertainty, conflict, and a loss of faith. Amidst this turmoil, he sought to reimagine hope, painting a picture that captured his complex emotions.
Watts’ painting depicts a lone, blindfolded female figure sitting on a globe, playing a harp with only one string remaining. Hope is broken….blindfolded, bruised and bandaged, and all alone. The background is nearly blank, with just a single star visible. The meaning of the painting is ambiguous. He described it as “Hope sitting on a globe, with bandaged eyes playing on a lyre which has all the strings broken but one out of which poor little tinkle she is trying to get all the music possible, listening with all her might to the little sound.” The figure is faintly illuminated from behind and directly from the front, as if the observer is the source of light.
In 1990, Barack Obama, then a student at Harvard Law School, attended a sermon by Jeremiah Wright at a local church. Wright interpreted Watts’ painting, describing the woman as bruised and bloodied, sitting atop a great mountain. The scene below showed a world of famine, war, and strife. Yet, despite her circumstances, the woman dares to hope, making music and praising God with the one string she has left. Wright’s message highlighted the resilience and audacity of hope. Obama took the message of hope from Watts’ painting as his campaign slogan – the audacity of hope. To be bold and daring, hoping for a better tomorrow despite the darkness of today. His slogan took him all the way to the White House.
To have faith and hope in difficult times requires audacity, courage and boldness. For Christians, inspiration is drawn from Jesus Christ. His words were that the persecuted, the meek and those mourning would be blessed. Jesus came as a light in the darkness and as a shepherd to people who were lost. The darkest time for Jesus was when he was betrayed, his trial was unjust, and he suffered and died on the cross for all people. But that wasn’t the end, he died on the Friday and rose again on the Sunday. It is the story of this resurrection that gives us hope and faith. The Bible says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” This biblical verse underscores the power of hope as an anchor for our soul, even when we cannot see the path ahead clearly. Romans 12:12 encourages us to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”
Fourteen years later, Watts painted Hope again, this time accompanied by Faith and Charity. Hope is no longer alone, no longer blindfolded or bandaged, and her harp is fully stringed – restored. She is smiling, representing a restored and joyous hope. This transformation reflects Watts’ personal journey from despair to renewed hope, that glimmer of light from the star is no longer the only light that we see. And Hope is not alone, she is with friends. For us, it’s important to remember the importance of community and friendship in helping us through difficult times. For Hope it was her friends, Faith and Charity, for us – it is each other.
This image of restored hope is a testament to how much we need each other. The work of Hong Kong Welcome has been crucial in providing spaces for people to find hope, a future, and a sense of community. It reminds us that even in the darkest times, we can find hope and healing together.
Will we have the audacity to hope? To hope for Hong Kong, for our families and those we love. Let’s be like the angel Hope and pluck the one string left on the harp to praise God and make our music with the little strength we have left.
I’d like to close with a blessing from Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” May this blessing guide us all in finding hope and a prosperous future.