Dear Members and Friends,

          It is easy to find friends when life is good; everyone enjoys a party or a celebration. But whom do you turn to when life gets more difficult? Who is your “one call” from jail? Who is the 1:00 a.m. call when your life is falling apart? Who is the hug you seek when you receive the hard news? We need more than friends in our life; we need comforters, counselors, advocates… people who will walk with us when the road gets tough.

           Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (14:15-17)

           The Greek word that is translated as Advocate is Paraclete. The word can mean advocate, like a defense lawyer. It can also mean comforter or helper. As Jesus is preparing for the hardest moment of his earthly life, his thoughts turn to his own needs for an advocate to stand with him before the powers of this world. Yet his promise is that this same paraclete will stand with his friends, the people that he loves. Jesus promises that none of us will be left abandoned or lost. That is a promise of Good News in a life that will have its fair share of difficult days.

Grace and Peace,

Daren Hofmann