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Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man,
in whom there is no help. (Psalm 146)
It is in our nature as humans that we need to hope. Where there is life there is hope, it is often said. Turn this around and it is yet more true: where there is hope, there is life. When hope wanes, life becomes a living death. No hope, no life. This is true not so much for little hopes, for good weather or decent health or a strong end to a Minnesota Vikings season. What we need most is Hope with a capital H. We need to Hope that all will be well, that life will turn out for the best, that we can be truly fulfilled, that love rather than hatred, life rather than death, will have the last word in the world and in our lives.
God, who made us this way, also shows us what we ought to hope in. "Put all your hope in the coming of Jesus Christ." So says St. Peter. Jesus is the only Hope for the world, the death and resurrection of Christ is the only cure for the terrible disease we are afflicted with. All other hopes will ultimately fail. This is why Jesus teaches us to transfer our vain hopes, our false hopes, to that one Hope which cannot fail us, he himself.
What has this to do with an election year? Have you noticed how much the election rhetoric is shot through with the word hope, and with various promises that play on this deep desire in our hearts to have something, someone, who will ensure that "all will go well?" Vote for me and be safe from all danger; vote for me and have your prosperity assured; vote for me and secure a future for your children; vote for me and the world will be the place of goodness it has always been meant to be. Politicians are masters at playing upon our deepest hopes and fears, and at posing as the ones who can provide the answers.
Christians know, or should know, better. Christians know that there is no possible political solution to the sorrows and sins of this world. Is there now, has there ever existed, a politician or a political party who could bring about a world without poverty? without wars? without hatred? without injustice? The answer is emphatically no. Politics will never answer such problems, because the root cause of them goes deeper than political solutions can reach. It goes
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to our wills, our hearts, our minds. As long as there is warfare and injustice in our hearts, there will be war and poverty and injustice in the world. As long as we are slaves to sin, death will have the last word. Christians, who are followers of Christ, the Wisdom of God, are wise enough to know this, and to keep themselves from putting Hope (capital H) in such promises. They reserve their hope for the one who is trustworthy and who can bring that hope to a final glorious consummation.
Do Christians then sit on the sidelines and do nothing in the political order? Not at all. Inspired by love for God and neighbor, the Christian does whatever he or she can to see that the order of heaven, the order of beauty and goodness and light and truth, works its way into this darkened world. The Christian fights for justice in the political realm, for good and true laws, for elected officials who will promote a civic life that upholds the true dignity of humanity, for protection for the weak, for the restraining of evil, for the promotion of all good things. But the Christian will never place too much Hope in such schemes. We know that the true hope of the world does not depend on an election; that God is at work in much more powerful and profound ways; that we should be neither overly disturbed nor overly elated by a political success or failure.
This freedom leaves the mind of the Christian at peace, not prey to the anxieties and false hopes of the "children of this world" as Jesus calls them. Let us this election year do our best as citizens of our country and as citizens of the coming Kingdom to work for the best possible political alternatives. But let us keep our Hope where it belongs. "Our hope is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
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Series begins Tuesday, October 5, with an Overview of the Grief Process. Grief accompanies all loss; it is experienced physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Your experiences with loss are both unique and common. This session helps define grief and helps guide you on your journey. Speaker is Gail Noller, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist. The program is from 6:45 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 171 Elm Street, Lino Lakes. Small support groups follow the speaker, and registration is taken at each session. Childcare is available free of charge. For more information, please call Sue Amos Palmer, (651) 633-8333, ext. 1298.
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A child went to his mother with a homework question: "What's the difference between potential and actual?" Mom replied, "Go ask your Dad, your brother, and your sister what they would do if they found a million dollars. Would they turn it in or keep it?" The child asks his family members, writes down the answers, and then goes back to his mom and shows her the responses. All the family members justified keeping the money by claiming they would do very noble deeds with it. "Now do you see the difference?" she says. "Potentially, we are an honest family, but actually you and I live with three conniving thieves."
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