There are invisible things-things that are beyond what we and the world can point to.  The wind that moves the leaves, the breaking heart that evokes the tears, and hope that spurs us on.  Also invisible is the big picture-our life that is being shaped by today and by the God who desires our happiness and our communion with him.  

We aren't often allowed to see the big picture.  We usually experience the visible things.  But, in God, all things are held together, visible and invisible.  In Him, we are able to hope because of the One who sees the invisible things and is able to hold them together and work them together for our good.  

Today's first reading from Romans gives us a great deal of hope.  I clung to this passage a great deal when I moved to Omaha over eight years ago.  I was alone in a strange city, going through a lot of pain, and didn't understand how God could possibly work it all for good.  But just as my loneliness began to settle into manageable despair, there came an unquenchable hope and I was saved because life is not possible without hope. 

So, when life is difficult, as it often is, we have a promise of hope.  And when we pray in our weakness, the Spirit will intervene.  But, the Spirit, of course, is another invisible thing.  So, we thank God for the visible things, but we thank God more for hope which allows us to embrace the invisible things and allows us to live.