Realistic Hope
I’ve recently been challenged to think about the nature of hope. Looking at the challenges that are facing our community at this time - increasing violence, especially against women, cost-of-living issues, the despair of many who feel they will never be able to buy a home, lack of access to the resources needs to assist people struggling with mental health and well-being - we are certainly in need of hope, the hope that there are better days ahead.
What I think we often turn to, however, is not hope, but wishful or optimistic thinking. Wishful thinking involves me defining what the best future must look like for me, the one that meets my needs and my goals. It also decides what things need to happen for me to have that future. The problem is that wishful thinking emphasises this idealised future and tends to ignore the possibility that things may not work out this way. It’s also reluctant to accept alternative strategies for getting there. However, with so many variables and so many things that are out of our control, the chances of achieving this outcome are small and we are set up for disappointment. Deep down, I think we know that, and so we’re not highly motivated to do the things needed to make that future a reality. In practice, we just stay where we are, doing the same things, complaining about what we don’t like and wanting something different, but not willing to do the things needed to make that happen.
While this applies to every part of life, I see it most clearly in my context. The future that many Churches look forward to is actually their past. They long to revisit the golden days when the pews were full, and people were beating down the door to join. (I’m not sure that past ever really existed.) And they think that if we just do now what we did then, the past will be repeated. But the world has changed. The past can never be the future. The same old ways of doing things don’t work. And so we become stuck, wanting the unattainable, knowing we can’t get it, and afraid to let go of what we do have in order to pursue a better future that is, in many ways, outside of our control and our imagining.
To my way of thinking, true hope is far less specific about what the future looks like and far more flexible about how we’re going to get there. It’s far less about us and far more trusting that God knows what he is doing. Yes, we need to know where we’re going. Yes, we should have a bold vision of what we want the future could be like. Mine is shaped by the Book of Revelation, which says...
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)
We also need to be realistic about the fact that how we get there might not be what we want, or imagine, or plan. Instead, let’s be open to God’s leading and to experiencing his good wherever we find it in both the journey and the destination. I chose to place my hope in the God who is far wiser than I am and who is able to achieve his good purposes in all the events of life. Again, the bible says…
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry
What I think we often turn to, however, is not hope, but wishful or optimistic thinking. Wishful thinking involves me defining what the best future must look like for me, the one that meets my needs and my goals. It also decides what things need to happen for me to have that future. The problem is that wishful thinking emphasises this idealised future and tends to ignore the possibility that things may not work out this way. It’s also reluctant to accept alternative strategies for getting there. However, with so many variables and so many things that are out of our control, the chances of achieving this outcome are small and we are set up for disappointment. Deep down, I think we know that, and so we’re not highly motivated to do the things needed to make that future a reality. In practice, we just stay where we are, doing the same things, complaining about what we don’t like and wanting something different, but not willing to do the things needed to make that happen.
While this applies to every part of life, I see it most clearly in my context. The future that many Churches look forward to is actually their past. They long to revisit the golden days when the pews were full, and people were beating down the door to join. (I’m not sure that past ever really existed.) And they think that if we just do now what we did then, the past will be repeated. But the world has changed. The past can never be the future. The same old ways of doing things don’t work. And so we become stuck, wanting the unattainable, knowing we can’t get it, and afraid to let go of what we do have in order to pursue a better future that is, in many ways, outside of our control and our imagining.
To my way of thinking, true hope is far less specific about what the future looks like and far more flexible about how we’re going to get there. It’s far less about us and far more trusting that God knows what he is doing. Yes, we need to know where we’re going. Yes, we should have a bold vision of what we want the future could be like. Mine is shaped by the Book of Revelation, which says...
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)
We also need to be realistic about the fact that how we get there might not be what we want, or imagine, or plan. Instead, let’s be open to God’s leading and to experiencing his good wherever we find it in both the journey and the destination. I chose to place my hope in the God who is far wiser than I am and who is able to achieve his good purposes in all the events of life. Again, the bible says…
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Neil Percival
Young District Anglican Ministry