Recently someone raised the question whether hope could be switched on at will. Was it a science or something? Especially after I claimed that when you find yourself hopeless you should simply acquire it by hoping.
Good question. I should not be allowed to be flippant about such a scarce commodity in today’s modern life.
I decided to do a little etymological study on the word hope. I suspected that there would be some higher thoughts to be gleaned from this topic.
This is the result.
Hope is a common translation for some interesting ideas. Looking at some of the older languages like Hebrew, we find that hope is a cord especially derived from that which binds together. The hope thought is also illustrated as something hoped for, confidence, or even a pool of water.
Hope could be patience, trust, assurance, refuge, boldness, surety, scrutiny, expectation and just waiting.
In Greek there is a waiting in expectation with confident pleasure.
Being hopeless is being without anything that makes it worth going on. No hope of any expected pleasure. No assurance or confidence that the dawning of the next day would bring a brighter tomorrow. Exactly the point! – you might say – this is why people commit suicide.
This might be partially true, but in allowing yourself to go into such a state you need to completely deny your Savior and His ever nearing return. The time thereof no one knows so it could be tomorrow, but since you gave up today, you wouldn’t get to see that, tomorrow.
Hope is like a race. More so like a time trial. There is nobody but you on the field; you race against the clock. You fall, but you get up, because others may have fallen too and since you will only know your final position in the race once all contenders are done, it simply doesn’t make sense to convince yourself halfway that you will not win the race. Why did you enter if you didn’t have hope that you might do well? This is a rhetorical question. We all enter after all, because this is the race of life and no one gets to stand on the side lines.
I believe you are born with hope. This is why the baby doesn’t give up during the birth. His DNA compels him to seek a brighter future outside where there is more risk, but also greater rewards. All parents have great hopes for their children and therefore instill a sense of a brighter tomorrow. What you are not born with is the knowledge of the end, but God tells us what the end looks like. We choose to accept His version, or we believe there is no triumphant end where our sorrows get conquered by joy and we consequently become hopeless.
Hope is like a pool of water in a dry and barren desert. We don’t stop our journey toward it when we thirst for drink and have the oasis in sight. Hope is a lifeline when you are washed out to sea. No one simply lets the rope go when it is in their grasp. When others are but a stretch away do you not grab hold of safety?
Hope is a refuge from the evils of this world, and though my body is put upon a stake I have hope in The One who overcame death and calls me to follow in faith. But don’t think for a moment that this is like giving up. Oh, no, this is the ultimate walk of faith, and faith cultivates hope, and hope sets the soul free to love relentlessly. A love that will not give in and will suffer to the greatest extreme for those who depend upon it. Dying to self is never suicide, but instead it is the most worthwhile attempt to grab hold of life, for the promise of such a life is an eternal one. Giving up on your unbending self will and taking up the will of your Savior Jesus Christ will not only give you hope, but also life abundantly.
Hopeless, are you? Then it is because you have no faith and your action will bear no resemblance to love. Love doesn’t give up. Love is eternal. Love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but is ever hoping and never hopeless. Love conquers the heart, and when it breaks, love is the glue that mends it again.
Giving up on life is not only foolish, but simply evil. And the ruler of evil has caught you in his snare and convinced you that you’ll be a hero when you make it your last stand to die for yourself. You are so mistaken, because Christ already died for you, and His death was enough to give you life eternal.
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3 comments:
A lot of thought has gone into this...
"faith cultivates hope, and hope sets the soul free to love relentlessly. A love that will not give in and will suffer to the greatest extreme for those who depend upon it."
This is the essence of the entire essay in my opinion but it is sort of like a chicken/egg scenario because I have hope as a baby before I understand what faith is or is it that I have faith in my parents and thus I have hope that they will provide?
According to your etymological study hope would appear to be that which is needed for any given particular situation, that implies that the word has a flexibility to it that few words have. This is powerful because it teaches me just what an integral part of God hope really is... He has a flexibility to Him that is able to adjust and be just what is needed in any given situation. And yet just as hope remains hope, just so God remains I AM.
Faith needs hope to build on it. Hope needs faith to nurture it. Both faith and hope need a choice to preceed either and thus both are determined by will and thus they could be a science in the sense that any choice has a consequence and this is a cause and effect relationship.
The black and white becomes grey though when a situational analysis is done and one starts bringing genetics, family sin that is passed on to future generations, state of consciousness, cultural context, moral values, being "victim" to another's bad decisions or poor choices and and and into the picture. These are matters of the heart so unique to each individual that it would be entirely and utterly unfair to to stand on the sideline and hammer the judge's gravel. God alone can see the inner man and make this call and I do not for one minute doubt that his investigation includes a situational analysis.
About the race analogy... that is a tough one to use when discussing suicide and hope because I did not choose to start this race in the first place, my parents did and so I either embrace it and thus choose hope or I don't and I end my life. This is choice though is it not? A rightful choice considering that I had no choice to be here in the first place? For if this is taken away then surely there is ultimatley no choice at all? But the bible teaches that there are only two choices... good and evil. Does this mean that to end life or to sustain life are these two polar opposites of good or evil?
I have no final conclusions on this one apart from the fact that life is simply to sweet to not want to taste more of it and thus I personally choose hope and try to love to the best of my ability those you are without it.
I like the Greek origin – “waiting in expectation with confident pleasure.” Actually, all of these derivatives seem to indicate something more sure than what we commonly think of as hope. More like “expect,” but with positive connotations (while “expect” can have negative connotations, like “expect the worst”).
You are right on that being hopeless – drawn to its logical end – means denying the Savior. I’d suggest that many people who feel hopeless while still maintaining a belief in God feel that God has let them down somehow. If God really loved them, why would He allow them to be in this situation?
The alternative take on this is that they are not worthy of God’s love. They are so terrible that even God couldn’t love them, so they have no reason to hope.
(And even though head knowledge might tell them differently, feelings aren’t always controlled by head knowledge, as you know.)
I don’t quite get the race/time trial analogy – maybe because like most analogies it fails to be a perfect correlation when you stretch it too far. Even in time trials, you have an idea of what is acceptable or winnable times, and throughout the course of the trial (and of life), you make comparisons between yourself and others (or even just between reality and what you want to be) and often see yourself coming far short, giving you cause for hopelessness. I guess my question is, what are you really attempting to win with this race? Salvation? The #1 spot in the kingdom? Fulfillment of God’s purpose in your life on earth? If salvation – the race is already won before you start. If it is God’s purpose on earth, then is your hope in yourself or in God? I like that last option the best, but I think I need to think about it more. Maybe I should be asking Paul the questions.
I like your point that we are born with hope.
I also really like your point that dying to self is totally different from suicide – Matthew 16:25 – “For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.” Reading your posts with that text in mind puts a whole new spin on them.
Your last paragraph is very powerful.
But - I agree with “Anonymous” that judgment can’t be made without situational analysis & none of us has all the details of anyone’s situation. And of course you don’t address the actual chemical imbalances etc. that might contribute to thoughts of suicide.
By the way, here’s a link to a mommy blog post that really caught my attention. What do you think of it?
http://aholyexperience.com/2008/07/when-bad-things-happen.html
"Hope is a refuge from the evils of this world."
That is a great statement you've made and I take it to heart. In fact I'm going to write that down...
I'm usually a cheerful, easy to laugh person, but have had some personal and family challenges in the past couple of years that has drained me of joy and hope. Within the past six months, things have shifted, and I have felt better about so much. A month or so ago I finally realized that I had my HOPE back.
To be hopeful - to turn towards the sun instead of turning one's back to it - makes such a huge difference. It affects every aspect of my life.
Very nice post.
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