The world is a swirling vortex of chaos. War, famine, pestilence and injustice seem to be the order of the day. It's easy to get lost in the darkness and succumb to despair. But even in the darkest of times, there is a flicker of light that refuses to be extinguished: hope.
Hope is not a naive belief that everything will be alright. It's not a passive wish for a better future. Hope is a defiant act of rebellion against the forces of darkness. It's a stubborn refusal to give up on the dream of a better world.
Hope is the voice that whispers in the ears of the oppressed, reminding them that their suffering will not last forever. It's the hand that reaches out to the downtrodden, offering them a lifeline of support. It's the fire that burns in the hearts of the righteous, fueling their fight for justice.
Hope is not just for the distant future; it's a tangible presence in the present. Prophecy and hope are connected in this way. It's a mistake to view the prophets of the Bible as mere foretellers of the future. They were primarily used by God to be tellers of the present.
Consider the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, theologian and philosopher: "Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor. God is raging in the prophet’s words. In speaking, the prophet reveals God ... The purpose of prophecy is to conquer callousness, to change the inner person, as well as to revolutionize history. The prophets remind us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
Prophets proclaim the message that we are not alone. We rise and fall together. It’s an acceptance of the truth that there is no one righteous, while hanging on to the hope that God still has provided a path forward out of failure and defeat.
Hope is not always easy to find. Sometimes it's buried deep beneath layers of pain and disappointment. But it's always there, waiting to be unearthed.
We find hope in the stories of those who have overcome adversity. We find it in the acts of kindness that light up our communities. We find it in the unwavering belief that good will ultimately triumph over evil.
Hope is not a luxury. It's a necessity. Without hope, we are lost.
In the words of the great theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”
So let us embrace faith, hope and love. May we look for the good in others and never seek to overcome evil with evil, but to overcome evil with good. In a world gone mad, hope is our most precious commodity.
