Hope is Always There

Hope is always there, for its inherent place in human life. It is one of the most profound of all human experiences, yet it also belies a mystery in its existence within the human person. How can a man hope when he knows that death is inevitable? How can someone who has experienced the tragedy of human life still have hope that stirs in the heart with every beat that seemingly seeks to defy the limitations? These aforementioned are simply a few of man’s questions on hope. The unending quest for the answers shows the yearning of the human person to find the ultimate truth of his existence in a world that is fraught with unfair elements yet is surrounded by the wonder of creation and life in itself. Hope is always there for humanity – it is the human person who should be able to recognize it in its true form and make use of this virtue. Hope is there to remind humanity to be open to possibilities of a better future in even the direst circumstances.

Hope is the act of going beyond the limitations of the human person. “It is the deep way mature, responsible human beings live,” according to Fr. Michael Mega, “going beyond lives of mere desire and empty optimism.” Hope gives man the courage to confront the doubts and anxieties of human life and affirm that something is forever real. Hope is forever in humanity because it goes beyond the temporal limits of human existence. When one finds hope in its truest form, he will find that he already possesses the object of hope in such a way that will never end, no matter what happens.

I will explain the eternal presence of hope in human life in two points. The first point is hope in the context of the trinity of Christian theological virtues, faith, hope, and love. St Thomas Aquinas said that faith has to do with things that are not seen, while hope has to do with things that are not at hand. The Christian sense of hope is not to be understood as “the act of hoping to”, the mere probabilistic anticipation of something desired, but as “the act of hoping in”, a ‘confident expectation’, a trust in God and His gifts that frees the believer from hesitation, fear, greed, and anything else that might keep him from [love] (Burton 2014). Hope is there because we trust in God – our faith fosters our heart to believe that we can overcome anything that comes into our life because we are never alone. Hope is eternal because we love God with the fullness of our being. The idea of a merciful and all-loving Father God that will do what is best for His children gives us the courage to hope for something better in our life, even if what we currently face is hardly comfortable. This is evidenced by the Filipino saying, May awa ang Diyos. We have hope because there is Jesus’ promise of salvation, the fullness of life. This promise invites us to dare live in that hope, even if the world around us is doing otherwise. Hope is also always there in the context of the Christian church because we see God as the basis of the whole community, the Body of Christ. We are all God’s children and together we hope in both the blessings He gives us in the world we live in now, and the promise of everlasting life with Him and all the other faithful believers in His Kingdom.

Secondly, hope can be seen in the context of living a unique life in solidarity with others. Hope in the context of human life with others means an active way of living. Hope is always there because we live in it every day of our lives. In families and other types of personal relationships, we trust in the eternal hope of unity and love, despite the troubles that might arise between you and other members. This hope is practically sensed when you do things for your family in such a way that you are guiding and helping them to find the ultimate purpose of their existence here in this world. Hope is always there within the human person because it bolsters the natural instinct of human beings to live in a unique way, catering to the act of moving beyond the conformity to a general cultural pattern of living. The human person lives in hope in such a way that he trusts that he will discover his own unique vocation, one that will fulfill his ultimate purpose in existing in this world. Deep inside our hearts, we hope in our future, even if we do not know accurate what will happen to us but we welcome everything and handle the hurdles in the way we can as unique individuals.

Realizing the everlasting presence of hope in one’s life is crucial to the receptivity of the human person. This act is relevant to me and every human being living in this world since Ancient times to those in the future generations because this is the key to our survival as a race. In the same vein as the Filipino adage, “Habang may buhay, may pag-asa”, hope boosts the human person’s will to survive and live through all challenges. We live in a world that is difficult to live in because of all its trials and problems that risk the welfare of the human person all the time but there is hope. Hope is there to counter despair because where there is hope there is always the possibility of despair, and only where there is the possibility of despair can we respond with hope. (Marcel 1995, p. 26) This characteristic of hope as a counter to despair signifies the power of free will – it is man’s choice to live in hope or to give up hope. Hope is always there – we only need to recognize it and live in it.