Have you ever heard of "ominous positivity?" It's a joke - saying good things in the most ominous way possible. Things like, "Everything will turn out fine. You cannot stop it." Or, "You will be ok. You have no choice."
Well, our Advent Sunday of Hope readings have an air of ominous positivity around them: good news and the promise of love, couched in warnings and lament. God's "Yes," but first, God's "No." Both our passages from Isaiah and Mark strip away a lot of false hope and leave us to rebuild from spiritual bedrock: surrender to a loving God working to reform us.
