“We represent the God who is both with us and out in front of us calling us, inviting us, even challenging us, to move into the future. As Moltmann put it,

‘God is the one who accompanies us and beckons us to set out. And it is God who, so to speak, waits for us around the next corner…. Even on the false paths we take in life God continually opens up surprisingly new possibility to us.’

The living God does not beckon from behind us somewhere in history, but is pulling us toward the horizons of promise and fulfillment. Those hurting people with whom we sit are crying out for new horizon of hope. They need future stories that provide security, excitement and joy in the present moment. Pastoral caregivers enable despairing persons to gain the courage to lean into their future, to revision and reconstruct future stories that are connected to hope rather than despair. ”

 

-Andrew D. Lester “Hope in Pastoral Care and Counseling” Chapter 10