Hope

I don't watch much network TV anymore. I watch a somewhat eclectic mix of shows mostly on cable.

These tend to be shows like Eureka!, Ninja Warrior, Warehouse 13, Unbeatable Banzuki, X Play and the Dog Whisperer. In addition to the soccer and other sports shows.

But lately, I've started watching a network show on ABC: Flash Forward.

Interesting premise: The entire population blacks out for a couple of minutes and experiences what is going to happen six months in the future. Some see good stuff, some see bad stuff, some see mundane stuff, some see impossible things and some see nothing.

As the show goes on people develop a certain fatalism about the flash forward. Common thought is that you can't change what you saw. There is also the idea that those who saw nothing die before the six months are up.

Hopelessness that they can influence their future is creeping into all the characters.

Except one. He decides that he can not live with what he sees in his flash forward. So he takes a drastic step to make sure that it doesn't happen. He takes a swan dive off the top of a building into concrete.

And the game changes.

Suddenly.

Drastically.

Hope is back. The future is not set in stone. It can be changed. What people saw in the flash forward is not what is going to happen. And it really starts to throw people for a loop.

The guy who committed suicide gave back hope.

Got me thinking: Am I a hope giver or a hope drainer?

Do I drain hope from others through my words or actions? Or do I encourage others with my words or actions? Is my hope based on others and their actions toward me or is my hope in Christ? My choices matter.

Always.

I am not certain about where the show is going. And I am not so set that I have to see every episode.

But now, I am interested in how it turns out...