Musical accompaniment: II. Adagio un poco moto – III. Rondo. Allegro from Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat by Ludwig van Beethoven

I’m writing this in Ohio, watching through the window as the early spring rain pours down and reflecting that hope and sorrow are like conjoined twins. Do they ever appear separately? The title of today’s post suggests perhaps they could be separated. If hope could ever be a certainty, there’s no need for sorrow.

This Frederick H. Evans photograph, In Sure and Certain Hope, was taken in York Minster, a 1,000-year-old cathedral in the north of England. The picture was taken in 1902 and published in Camera Work in 1904.

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I was curious about the title, which is based on a Bible verse, Hebrews 6:19: “This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place.”

Some Biblical scholars cited Hymn 60 by Isaac Watts, written in 1806.  Despite its bland title, the lyrics are beautiful. These are the last two stanzas:

Then should the earth’s old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.

Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,
Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his power sustains.