What Do I Expect?

"Expectation -- anxious, collective and operative expectation of an end of the world, that is to say, of an issue for the world -- that is perhaps the supreme Christian function and the most distinctive characteristic of our religion.

Historically speaking, that expectation has never ceased to guide the progress of our faith like a torch...We persist in saying that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality we should have to admit, if we were sincere, that we no longer expect anything.The flame must be revived at all costs. At all costs we must renew in ourselves the desire and the hope for the great coming. But where are we to look for the source of this rejuvenation? From the perception of a more intimate connection between the victory of Christ and the outcome of the work which our human effort here below is seeking to construct."
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

This quote from Teilhard de Chardin challenges me. For what do I hope? What do I expect? Do I expect anything - anything real and significant from God and for God's manifestation in the world? Moreover, what cost am I wiling to pay for this hope - this desire - to become real?

Like most people, I suppose, I am more bound up by fear than by expectation, by comfort than in a hope for change, by the status quo than deep transformation. Perhaps the real miracle isn't in our hoping, expecting, waiting, or preparing. Perhaps the real miracle is that God tries again and again year in and year out by coming with new light into the world whether we are prepared or not. Maybe I'll really try expecting it this year.