In Defense of Hope

"The world doesn't need anymore great men, the world has had enough great men; what the world needs is a God."


Quick Note

This is a long post, so I put headers to each of the sections so you can easily skim over the boring parts if you feel so inclined. :D  And, Ironically enough, I've given up on finishing this post, so I'm just posting it as is. Also, I found a marvelous talk by Elder Maxwell that pretty much sums up everything I was trying to say about a hundred times more eloquently, so if you want, here's the link.

A Story

When the earth was still young and Man had no Women, Zeus created a Woman to torment man.  He named the first Woman Pandora, and gave her a box, which she was instructed never to open.  Being a Woman, however, curiosity got the better of her and she lifted the lid: before she could close it again out flew all the evils that now plague the world -- death, sickness, birth, diseases of all kinds, pain and cruelty -- all according to the plan of a vengeful god.  But before the very last evil flew out she flung herself upon the lid and trapped one last flying creature.  She looked in the box, and Hope remained.

I used to think this was a beautiful story conveying through metaphor the idea that no matter what evil is released into the world there is still some spark of light, some goodness to be found - Hope remained. Then I actually read the story of Pandora and discovered otherwise.  As Nietzsche said "Pandora brought the jar with the evils and opened it...Then all the evils, those lively, winged beings, flew out of it. Since that time, they roam around and do harm to men by day and night. One single evil had not yet slipped out of the jar. As Zeus had wished, Pandora slammed the top down and it remained inside. So now man has the lucky jar in his house forever and thinks the world of the treasure. It is at his service; he reaches for it when he fancies it. For he does not know that the jar which Pandora brought was the jar of evils, and he takes the remaining evil for the greatest worldly good—it is hope, for Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment."

This perception of Hope is more prominent than I would have ever thought, until just recently that is. I have never had my belief in Hope challenged before, and I never anticipated having it challenged -- Hope is inherently valuable, it's worth is self-evidently beyond dispute: or so I thought.  In the last two days I've had two people, who are very close to me, tell me that Hope is useless, weak, and childish.  It broke my heart. But it proved to be a useful wake-up call; the first time I couldn't actually defend Hope, or say why it was so important, so powerful, or so necessary -- I didn't actually know what hope was (which was relatively shocking to me, because I've claimed Hope as my mission statement for years.  I thought I was an expert on Hope.)  So I've studied some, and have came up with some answers as to what Hope is, and why it's power is so necessary.  Hence the title: In Defense of Hope.

Another Story 
(Or perhaps the same one from a different perspective...but that's a post for another time.)

In the Beginning God created the Earth, and all things that in her are, and He saw man, that he was alone -- so God created an Help Meet for him.  God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but Eve partook and brought into the world all the evils that now are -- death, sickness, the travails of birth, diseases and sickness, pain and cruelty. All according to the plan of an all-knowing, loving Father.  But along with death came the promise of Eternal life, and the opportunity to become like God -- along with death, for all of God's children came Hope.

"If Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.  But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.  Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall."  Thus Christ became the Hope of Israel, and of all men.  

Hope Wothout Faith

In April 1976 General Conference, then Elder Monson stated the following in reference to this picture, titled "A Hopeless Dawn"

For her and many others who have loved and lost dear ones, each dawn is hopeless. Such is the experience of those who regard the grave as the end and immortality as but a dream. 

The famed scientist, Madame Marie Curie, returned to her home the night of the funeral for her husband, Pierre Curie, who was killed in an accident in the streets of Paris, and made this entry in her diary: 

“They filled the grave and put sheaves of flowers on it. Everything is over. Pierre is sleeping his last sleep beneath the earth; it is the end of everything, everything, everything.” (Vincent Sheehan, trans., Madame Curie: A Biography by Eve Curie, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 1943, p. 249.) 

The atheist, Bertrand Russell, adds his testament: “No fire, no heroism, no integrity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual life beyond the grave.” And Schopenhauer, the German philosopher and pessimist, was even more bitter. He wrote: “To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake.” 

In reality, every thoughtful person has asked himself the universal question, best phrased by the venerable, perfect, and upright man named Job, who, centuries ago, asked: “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14.) Through inspiration from on high, Job answered his own question: 

“Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! 

“That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. … 

“In my flesh shall I see God.” (Job 19:23–26.) 

Few statements in scripture reveal so clearly a divine truth as does Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22.) (1976 April General Conference, Hopeless Dawn—Joyful Morning, Sat. Morning Session - Thomas S. Monson)

 “What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ” (Moro. 7:40–4) This, to me, is the essence of Hope: that God suffered for our sins, that He laid down His life so we might live again.  It is the kind of Hope described by Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary:  "A Strong and Confident Expectation...To trust with confident expectation of good...Hope always gives pleasure or joy...The highest degree of well-founded expectation of good...Grounded on substantial evidence."

Without a God to atone for our sins and to offer us the promise of eternal life there is no reason for Hope, and there is nothing substantial to Hope in -- Hope is useless, weak, and childish: it has no practical use, no positive outcome. Supposing, for a moment, that there is no God, what would one Hope for, what would one Hope in?  Well, men might hope for world peace, or one might have hope in a friend - that they will be there when they need them. And to what avail? None. That hope, in and of itself, accomplishes nothing but to help the person have a more positive attitude -- which in some, arguably many, cases leads to inaction or foolish action: for instance if someone has hope in their own strength it may lead them into unwise skirmishes or fights.  This hope may be reasonable, they may have been in fights before where they came out on top because of their strength; but either way, to go into a fight, or to draw the analogy on a larger scale, to go into a war hoping in the virtue of your own strength is useless, foolish, and childish. 

But there is a God and not only does He bring Hope, He has commanded us to Hope for Eternal Life, to Hope for a remission of our sins, to Hope in Christ.   Thus we see that Hope without Faith is vain, and just as Hope without Faith is vain, even so, as Mormon taught, you cannot have Faith without Hope.

Symptoms of Hope

Paul, when describing the armor of God likened the Hope of Salvation to a helmet.  I think it's significant, perhaps even ironic, that Hope is what he saw most fit to protect our head -- the seat of thought, logic, and reason, the governing organ of all our actions. 

Mormon taught that it is by Hope that we are purified, even as Christ is Pure, and by Hope that we may have the Faith to see Him as He is.

Paul and Ether both preached that Hope is an Anchor to the souls of men, "which would make them firm and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."  (That's pretty hardcore, if you ask me...Unless your definition of hardcore is ninja-type-things that appeal to 8 year old boys...)

A Word Concerning Definitions

I realize that because of our language, and the versatility of words, some may quibble with the definitions I've chosen to include and to postulate, saying that Hope is nothing more than wishful thinking, i.g. I hope my little brother will stop making that terribly annoying noise, or, I hope that I can marry Johnny Depp one day! etc.  Yes, we use the word Hope and wish interchangeably sometimes, but that is what I call Falsehope. As President Uchtdorf said in my favorite conference talk of all time -- The Infinite Power of Hope -- 

"The complexities of language offer several variations and intensities of the word hope. For example, a toddler may hope for a toy phone; an adolescent may hope for a phone call from a special friend; and an adult may simply hope that the phone will stop ringing altogether.  I wish to speak today of the hope that transcends the trivial and centers on the Hope of Israel, the great hope of mankind, even our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  Hope is not knowledge,  but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance."

And a Random Painting
That doesn't really fit with the rest of the article, but I liked it.

"with her clothes in rags, her body scarred and bruised and bleeding, her harp all but destroyed and with only one string left, she had the audacity to make music and praise God ... To take the one string you have left and to have the audacity to hope ... that's the real word God will have us hear from this passage and from Watt's painting."-- Jeremiah Wright
 According to Watts [the painter], "Hope need not mean expectancy. It suggests here rather the music which can come from the remaining chord".