Hope
Hope. My previous four essays were, more than anything, statements of who I was, am, and hope to be. It is fitting then, that this essay addresses hope, something it seems is in short supply these days. Here in the US, hope is somewhat easier, although that too is changing. When confronted with the existence and extent of the universe, and perhaps more importantly the mystery and significance of our being, we come up against some difficult questions. Why are we here? What is the point of anything, really? Why do we have pain? Why is there such ugliness in the world? Yet also, why is there beauty? Why is there love? Add your own questions to this endless list.
Sunset Reflection
Hope is a funny thing. We all have it. Or, we’ve lost it at times. It seems to me, hope is contextual. It depends on the situation. There are circumstances in which there is hope for a specific result. Sometimes there is no hope; it is unreasonable to expect a different outcome. How futile and pitiful is the cliché, “We can always hope.”
As a culture, we currently worship technology. It is an expression of hope that has been well-founded historically. We hold that technology will make our lives better, safer, satisfying, easier, more interesting. We have faith this will continue. Technology, however, is and has always been a two edged sword. Sometimes literally. For example, war thrives on technological innovation. War technology can also launch a man to the moon, cure infectious disease (penicillin), build machines enabling mass transit. The world becomes a smaller place. Travel shows us that strangers, people, everywhere share common perceptions, desires, hopes.
Technology blesses us with computers, without which today, many of us could not do our jobs, including present company. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) runs out of the Pentagon. DARPA, not Al Gore, gave us the internet. Without the internet we could not communicate, almost instantly, with someone else on the other side of the world. We couldn’t stream music. We couldn’t write blogs 😇 We wouldn’t have social media. The internet will connect all of us, all of our things. The hope is that we will begin to understand each other better because communication will be easier.
But how’s that working out? We use the internet for commerce, all types, illicit and otherwise. One of its greatest, most frequent, uses is pornography, with resulting exploitation and trafficking of human beings! We use it to defame people that disagree with us, that don’t look like us, to bully the weak, to kill, yes kill by driving some to suicide, to hate, to plot terrorism, to subvert and destroy. All the selfies and memes and pictures of our lunch do nothing to justify this. The internet has become an instrument of exploitation and hate and a purveyor of misinformation. Present company excluded, of course! 😇
Yet, I like the internet. I get great photography teaching online, for example. I can keep in touch with family and friends by email. I can display my art on my website. I can listen to music, watch movies, do research, gather information, all of which would be difficult without the web. My point is technology is not intrinsically good or evil; its application, its stewardship, depends upon the intent of its users, us, the state of our souls. But whither hope?
Have you ever wondered at the number of emerging movies depicting a dystopian future? Movies have always done this, but it seems to me the frequency of such dark releases has increased during my lifetime. They don’t make me feel good, they don’t entertain me, whether I watch them or not, but I worry about people who do watch them, are drawn to them. I worry they create a sense of hopelessness about a future that cannot be transformed.
Unless. The movies I like are those in which the hero overcomes impossible odds against a clearly evil enemy. Heroes. Man or woman. Black or white. Western or eastern hemisphere. Christian or Buddhist. The archetype of the hero(ine) is universal in human cultures. What drives these heroes, real or imaginary? If the circumstance is hopeless, shouldn’t discretion be the better part of valor? I will state categorically there is an element of hope in heroic action. All heroes have hope. Hope energizes courage. Without hope, we are doomed. If there is no hope, the only rational response is despair and hedonism.
The universe is a big place. It is an incomprehensibly hostile environment, albeit magnificently beautiful, too. Out of it, we come to find ourselves contemplating the mystery of our existence from the vantage point of this earthly haven. But only for a short time. Genetics and disease and happenstance limit the days of our lives. We die. All of us die. Nations, civilizations rise and fall. Even the very stones are destroyed by wind and rain, by geological forces. Comets, asteroids, and meteorites bombard the earth, wipe out dinosaurs. Why not man? The earth will die. The solar system, our sun, our galaxy will all die, often in a cataclysm of violence. According to Roger Penrose, 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physics, and other physicists, even the universe itself will die one way or another. Let’s face it: Our existence is precarious. Our ultimate situation is hopeless; despair is rational; only a fool would think otherwise.
But there is an alternative. Hope. Our hope is in Christ Jesus, whose birth we celebrate soon, which we announce with glad tidings of joy. Peace to all men. His life is our symbol of hope. His spirit, living within us, is his guarantee of our hope. Only a fool would think so.
Really? You’re on the Titanic. Ship goes down. For some irrational, foolish reason, you fight not to be sucked down with it. You gasp a breath of fresh air as you surface in the freezing water. You know your goose is cooked. It is hopeless indeed. And then you see a small boat floating nearby. The distant voices of other survivors echo and then fall silent in the gloom. You are alone. Do you clamber up into the boat? You’re freezing. You can’t see anything but a boat and that not very well in the darkness. It is foolish to think you can survive for long. It is idiotic to think that boat appeared just for you. C’mon Man! It’s an illusion! But then your hand reaches out and touches the side of the boat. Solid. Smooth. Reassuring. Even under such ridiculous circumstances, you have a choice. Sink down into the dark waters. End it; that’s what is inevitable! But no, you struggle over the gunwale and plop down on your back gazing up at the stars. Something blooms in your heart for the first time in a long time. Hope.
Your mind screams, “You’re situation is hopeless!” But for now, you are alive, shivering violently, but alive. For now. How long? Who knows? It’s a mystery. Yet for some stupid, irrational, mysterious reason, you are grateful. You turn your eyes to the stars and you say a silent prayer of thanks to an unknown god.
The Apostle Paul said this in his first letter to the Corinthian church, chapter 15, verses 19-22, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Read all of chapter 15 for an example of Paul’s viewpoint about our existential dilemma. Do a search on hope throughout the Bible; it is a book of hope.
As you sit in your boat, surrounded by silence, gently rocking on the swells, you cry with pity for yourself, in the hopelessness of your situation. But suddenly you spy what looks like a waterproof locker in the stern. You open it to find a jacket and a slicker. And then, wonder of wonders, a battery powered heater! Your hands shake almost uncontrollably as you turn it on. After a few fumbles, you feel warmth beginning to touch your skin. You are surprised by joy. Hope is kindled in your heart. Shaking your head in wonder, you begin looking for other survivors. Bringing hope to the hopeless.
My aunt has a friend with whom she has discussed “faith” and who describes herself as an atheist, yet who also feels “sinful” at times. I wrote something on this circumstance, which I now quote. “In regard to your friend, the Sinner Atheist; a more ridiculous philosophy is most difficult to conceive, betwixt and between as it is. Martin Luther would rage were he present, thinking of the writer of Ecclesiastes perhaps, "If you would sin, sin boldly!" If there is no God, it matters not a whit. The existentialists of despair are right: "Abandon hope all ye who enter herein." However, if yet the self identification as a sinner persists, perhaps consider the still small voice of Him who redeems us for himself calling, deep unto deep, crying for reunification with that which is lost, but which refuses to come. I believe resistance is futile; He will redeem you anyway. I am not a universalist. I find the sacrifice of the cross compelling and the grace of it inspires hope and faith in me. But I cannot simply believe that any one doctrinal conception conveys the width and height and breadth of Him who gave himself for us and ‘is not willing that any should perish.’ He may drag you kicking and screaming to Himself and YOU can decide whether to resent Him for doing so for eternity, or not. Forgive this heresy if you can, but consider it part of my confession.”
Though I may understand everything there is to know about the universe, in quantum detail, I still don’t know why it exists, why I exist, why I even care about why. Even if I understand completely the chemistry, physics, and physiology of a gorgeous sunset, I cannot tell you why it is beautiful. Why lovers hold each other closer as the sun drops below the horizon. Why we often believe it to be a symbol of hope for tomorrow. We have all experienced this! It is part of our human experience. Faith and hope. Faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. Hope that the asteroids miss our earth. Hope that somehow, tomorrow will just be. So if you are thinking that you have no hope, no faith, you are mistaken. You exercise faith and hope in every aspect of your being, whether you realize it or not! We can’t help it!
So, if you feel hopeless, if you feel you have no hope, I pray that God the Father who created us, that God the Son who gave himself for us on the cross of redemption, that God the Spirit who guarantees the promise and sustains our hope will make himself known to you, will draw you to himself and convince you by his presence that you were created for a purpose, from the very beginning, that we would unite in good works as He has planned. From the very beginning, in time immemorial before you were born, He loved you. This is our hope. And He who is faithful, has gifted us faith; it is our inheritance. Oh Lord, I ask that you visit hope upon the hopeless, faith upon the faithless, and joy upon the joyless. In the name of Him who gave himself for us, in the name of Him who guarantees His promises, I ask this. Amen. Hope.
If my “theology” or my “metaphor” concerns you, search the scriptures, search your heart, search your philosophies and find the truth. I believe God is good for an answer, a life boat. Hope.
Merry Christmas!
Christmas Miracle