Somewhere between hope and daydream

The clergy and staff at the Cathedral were asked to write short pieces for the parish newsletter about our hopes for the next year. I went all Romans 5:5 ("hope does not disappoint us") and noted that I was glad we weren't asked to write about our expectations, wishes, or resolutions.

The kind of hope that does not disappoint us doesn't cover everything we'd express by saying "I hope . . ." There's something between hope and wish, or between hope and daydream, that doesn't come with a nice Scriptural warrant but is still worth musing on at this time of year. So here are some hopes for 2021, or wishes, or daydreams, or just generally things that would be nice and don't seem impossible.

I hope I figure out some new way of offering teaching and formation. I'm toying with the idea of a podcast.

I hope I find some new activity in 2021 that I enjoy as much as I enjoyed hillwalking in 2020. Kayaking?

I hope I get elected to the General Board of Examining Chaplains. (I've been nominated.)

I hope I find a disciplined and steady way to finish all the writing I have contracted to do over the next year and a half.

More than that, I hope I enjoy doing all that writing, and do it as well as I can.

I hope I learn the whole Franck violin sonata. The piano part, of course. And I mean really, really learn it.

I hope I get back to Scotland.

I hope the Sewanee Church Music Conference happens this year.

I hope teaching gets back to normal in the fall, because face-to-face teaching is fun, energizing, and effective, and virtual teaching is (for me) none of those things.