Hope in the Hills of Home

Some have the idea that the terrain in Missouri is all flat and very boring.  That is a false assumption.  The little village of my childhood is named, "Bay."  You might not find it on a map, but it still exists just north of U.S. 50, at the intersections of Routes W and K.  There is no bay nearby, but there are many hills.  It is a sacred place.  It has been the home of my heart--even as I have moved many times over the years.

Bay has changed a lot in 50 years.  The Bay Mercantile Company (the store) went out of business years ago.  The State Bank of Bay merged to form the Bay-Hermann-Berger Bank some years ago.  (This was the only bank in the county that did not close during the Great Depression.)  The Bay Roller Mill has closed a long, long time ago.  Ollie's Repair Shop is gone.  My Uncle Ollie died in 2005.  There are three church buildings nestled amid the hills covered with oaks and cedars.  Only one of these congregations, Zion-St. Paul United Church of Christ, continues to have services each Sunday; and that little community of faith struggles with familiar issues of survival.  Things have changed in dramatic ways.

Often I have stood amid the stones in Zion's Cemetery, looking out at the surrounding hills.  There a poet's question echoes forward, inquiring of my soul:  I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? (Psalm 121:1).  Sometimes that question waits a long, long time for an answer.  Sometimes it feels desperate even to allow such a question to rise up in my soul.  I scour the horizon for help--but there is not a single sign of hope to be found.  Everything has changed.  Even the old hills, look different now.  Where is my comfort?  Where is my confidence?  Where is my peace?  Where will I discover healing and hope in the face of my brokenness and despair?

And then, I know--as did the Psalmist--that my help is in the One who created the heavens and the hills.  This is the One who will keep you and me "from this time on and forevermore."   My help is comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth."  My only comfort is in the assurance that God will not abandon me--God will not abandon us.  There is hope as we face the challenging, depressing economic news.  There is hope for little communities of Christ's followers, who seek to be faithful amid the changing times. There is hope as I stand amid the hills of home.