An Ever- Present Hope

In the past days, I keep coming across references and articles on hope. Biblical passages pop up, exhorting me to hope (We wait in hope for the Lord, Ps. 33:10; I put my hope in God; Ps. 24:5 ; As for me, I will always have hope; Psalm 71:14). In books, in sermons, as I study other writers, I keep bumping into the exhortation to hope. But sometimes - in these days and weeks? it’s all I can do not to despair, never mind to hope.

How does one maintain a spirit of hope in this present world? How can I possibly even think about being hopeful when terrorism strikes into the very heart of innocent citizens; when men seeking more and more power bomb hospitals and schools; when panicked people are struck down on the very path of their attempted escape? What does hope even mean in this world that seems intent on a path of self-destruction, surrounded on all sides by injustice, violence and destruction?

Where is God in all this? Where is hope? Are we delusional in even believing that there is such a thing as hope?

Maybe. ….and yet- I hope. I cannot help it; my hope might sometimes be a mere flicker, like a small weak candle in the wind, but it doesn’t go out. I won’t let it. I’m far too stubborn to let go of my hope, and I truly do believe in a hope that is undergirded by faith and love. I’ve walked too far and too long on this path to even contemplate leaving hope behind in the dust. And this is why I won’t let go of hope now, and with God’s grace, not ever.

For I know, in the deepest core of my being, that hope is not an illusion, nor is it a flimsy concept that tricks us into believing in a better future. Such an understanding of hope fails to recognize it for what it truly is: a very present and real way to help us process what is going on now, in our lives at this very moment. I cannot have hope that only exists in a future dimension; hope is real only when it is present in the moment, now. Hope allows me to embrace what is going on in my world today, and in contemplating the possibilities of what might be, understand now that my God sees them all, and is intent on the ultimate course that is good and true.

As St Paul wrote centuries ago: “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” (Romans 8:24). I hope today for what I cannot see; for what will come tomorrow. I cannot know what will come; I cannot determine tomorrow’s outcome by today’s disasters. A true and holy hope is only possible within the context of faith, for each strengthens the other. My faith in a good God gives me hope in the present moment for a blessed future. My present hope builds my faith for a future to come that is good, and that allows me to carry on.

Hope does not mean that I need to understand everything that is going on; I don’t need the why’s and the wherefores, and the constant deconstruction and reconstruction of arguments; of haranguing and postulating and suppositions. Hope is not rational; it is not intellectual, and often, it’s not even sane. True hope is grounded in faith, springing forth from my soul - from deep in my bones. True hope builds up my faith so that I can continue to have hope.

This type of hope is not fantasy, nor is it a ‘feel-good” panacea to get me through a difficult time, though it may seem so to those who have no faith. Those who don’t believe in a divinely present God may struggle to perceive the very real power of hope; yet hope has always strengthened the people who’ve maintained their hope in extremely difficult times. Hope has woven its way through cultures and civilizations since the dawn of time, providing a real and holy platform upon which to stand as people triumph through and in spite of multiple trials.

People who’ve been treated unjustly, cruelly and viciously know deeply the power of hope. Indigenous peoples have survived in the aftermath of inhumane treatment and cruelty because they’ve maintained hope as a people, bound together by thousands of years of shared wounds, of sacred culture. Black Americans have survived centuries of ongoing racism and injustice because, as a culture, as a people, they’ve kept their hope alive in their faith, in their traditions, in the very core of their souls.

Marginalized peoples around the world, and throughout multiple centuries have kept their hope alive for a better, gentler more loving world, even in the midst of repeated genocides, wars, and injustices. Hope is the fire that kindles the spirit to keep on going, to find the good, to ultimately live and love as best we can.

So yes. These are difficult times, but in all honesty, this is nothing new; we have struggled as a human race since we drew our very first breath. But just as ancient and just as true is hope. Hope has fueled the constancy of our existence; the deep faith of our fathers, the belief in God’s promises for an eternity of better tomorrows.

My faith tells me that our God is a God of hope, the One Who promises that tomorrow will come, and maybe - just maybe - it will be a better day for me, for you. For the world.