A stump: a lifeless remnant. Nearly every plant owner knows what it’s like to look at something dead and wish it were otherwise. That’s the image Isaiah offers in today’s first reading (which we’ve heard once already this Advent). “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom” (Is 11:1). From that stump, the prophet promises, new life begins. The promise of a Messiah is born from what looked like the end. Hope, founded in the Lord, will not be disappointed.