Great column...but it leaves me asking why do we hope as we do? why is hope so inescapable? Why does the abused spouse keep hoping that her husband will change? Why does the child, now an adult, keep hoping that his overt deficiencies don't show to others?...of course we can become hopeless, but I think that is more the temporal exception rather than the rule. I think the answer is more than just clearly "survival" and more than us once in a while getting a bite of the carrot on the string to keep us hanging on. I know how a naturalist would respond to this question but I think it cannot be totally explained from this point of view. Looking for the psychological or metaphysical answer here but not quite sure I can put my finger on it.
I get in trouble when hope becomes a 'hope for', instead of a 'hope in', deal. When I say 'hope for' I really often mean 'wish for' ... like wishing I get a new car or something like that. 'Hoping in' is something different all together becausing it focuses on the thing that can be make the 'hope for' come to pass. We can 'hope in' people, the church or the government and be disappointed ... but to truly 'hope in' the Lord ... aah, now that is a different matter all together.
2 comments:
Julie,
Great column...but it leaves me asking why do we hope as we do? why is hope so inescapable? Why does the abused spouse keep hoping that her husband will change? Why does the child, now an adult, keep hoping that his overt deficiencies don't show to others?...of course we can become hopeless, but I think that is more the temporal exception rather than the rule. I think the answer is more than just clearly "survival" and more than us once in a while getting a bite of the carrot on the string to keep us hanging on. I know how a naturalist would respond to this question but I think it cannot be totally explained from this point of view. Looking for the psychological or metaphysical answer here but not quite sure I can put my finger on it.
I get in trouble when hope becomes a 'hope for', instead of a 'hope in', deal. When I say 'hope for' I really often mean 'wish for' ... like wishing I get a new car or something like that. 'Hoping in' is something different all together becausing it focuses on the thing that can be make the 'hope for' come to pass. We can 'hope in' people, the church or the government and be disappointed ... but to truly 'hope in' the Lord ... aah, now that is a different matter all together.
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