Cross Your Fingers
and
hope for the best
When someone says ‘Cross your fingers and hope for the best.’ does that sound to you positive, or rather negative? Is it as if one were to say with conviction that everything really is going to be ok, or does it sound as if what is meant is that actually, it quite likely won’t be ok?
When someone says ‘Cross your fingers and hope for the best.’ does that sound to you positive, or negative? Is it as if we were to say that everything is going to be ok, or actually, it quite likely wont be?
‘Cross your fingers‘ originated as a remembrance of the Cross of Christ, and ‘hope for the best‘ references the fruit of the Cross in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Having faced one’s powerlessness before great difficulties with our fingers crossed we have a radical new perspective on all that crosses our path in the light of the Cross and Resurrection. The new perspective can inform the way we think, speak and act, with a new hope, courage and even with peace.
In February 2025 I gave a talk ‘Hope and The Holy Year 2025‘ in the Parish Hall of St James’s Parish, St Andrews, Scotland. I spoke from notes rather than a written text and in response to several requests I promised to make a text available, and with it, some resources about hope and about the Holy Year. This website is my attempt to keep the promise! It is still very much at the development stage, so keep checking, as updates will be frequent and varied!
The write up of the talk is not yet complete but the first part can be found at Parish Talk, 27 February 2025
On the right hand side of this page in desktop view, and at the bottom of the page on a mobile device, you should find a menu with links to the first few things gathered on this website in connection with the Holy Year and with Hope.
Possibilities for development include:
Photos: one idea raised by Pope Francis is that we can simply look at the beauty of creation as a way to refresh our hearts and minds and lift them to God in this difficult time. This is by now means an escapism, or a denial: on the contrary, this practice has the facility to help to take the mind and heart to a different perspective from which we return to the tough stuff with a new perspective.
Here are a few photos to start off with!
Lent is coming up and many aspects of Lent resonate with aspects of the Holy Year. So perhaps a few ideas about that.
Keep checking. Updates will be frequent and varied!