麻豆约拍

Good morning. 鈥淗ope deferred makes the heart sick鈥�, says the proverb, and I鈥檓 sure we鈥檝e all had occasion to experience the disappointment of deferred hope. Sometimes it鈥檚 one of those aggravating letters telling you your hospital appointment has had to be postponed. Sometimes it鈥檚 something bigger. When the American journalist Terry Anderson was freed, after six and a half years as a hostage in Lebanon, his family faced an agonising wait after the initial announcement of his release, as snow delayed his transfer from Lebanon to Syria. They feared another false alarm, and surely felt the 鈥渉eart-sickness鈥� of deferred hope looming again. But thankfully this time the rumours proved true, and they experienced the other, better, half of the proverb 鈥� 鈥渂ut a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.鈥� Terry Anderson also knew what it was to have to keep his hope alive during those long years. 鈥淧eople say I lost seven years of my life鈥�, he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 lose them 鈥� I lived them.鈥� That kind of attitude got him past the disappointments, the wondering and worrying, and saw him through to the day, exactly 21 years ago, when he was finally freed. 聽<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Hope is a dangerous thing, a risky thing, to allow into our hearts, and sometimes it may be tempting to not take the risk, and so avoid the heart-sickness of disappointment. But the 鈥渢ree of life鈥� is there for all who keep the flame of hope, trust and faith alive.