By Jamie Varvaro
Evangelist
I must say, I loved our World Conference theme! “Hope is Here” was explored and experienced as members and friends gathered May 30–June 6 in Independence, Missouri, USA.
As I considered this theme, I thought about the difference between hope and faith. Their distinctions are important to understand.
I mean, we all know that Christians long have championed faith, convinced of faith’s beauty and strength, often treating hope as its ugly stepsister that’s noticed only when faith leaves the room.
Indeed, when I typed “faith” and “hope” into Google, I found countless sermons, essays, and blogs extolling the virtues of faith and downplaying the role of hope. I think they’re wrong. The longer I live, the less faith I have in faith, and the more hope I have in hope. I’ve discovered faith’s beauty is temporary and its strength an illusion.
Hope is more patient and persistent, holding our hand, offering feeble light, and whispering possibilities.
Easily threatened, faith often abandons us in the darkness, incapable of handling our doubts and fears. Blaming our lack of confidence as the cause for our plight, faith can be more of a curse than a comfort. Hope is more patient and persistent, holding our hand, offering feeble light, and whispering possibilities.
When faith disappears, hope often remains. I’m glad for that because I’ve been relying on hope more and more. In the end, I had to accept that much of what I had believed in faith could be sustained only with hope.
Initially I was worried that hope was a poor substitute, but I’ve discovered that the neglected stepsister might be the belle of the ball. I’ve begun to wonder if Paul listed faith, hope, and love as a progression in importance, that faith never was intended to be the pinnacle, that hope had far more to offer than I ever suspected.
What if hope is what faith becomes when it grows up? As part of the process for sainthood, Mother Teresa’s letters to her spiritual directors and confessors were made public. These letters caused many of her admirers to cringe and her critics to celebrate, because they cast serious doubts on Mother Teresa’s faith. In these letters, she often calls herself a hypocrite and worries what others would think if they knew of her doubts.
When her faith wavered, she discovered hope.
For me, knowing she had doubts about her faith makes me respect her all the more. When she questioned her faith, she did not abandon her mission to the poor. She did not quit caring for the sick. She continued to do what she could, imperfect as it might have been, to make the world a better place.
When her faith wavered, she discovered hope. She never said this exactly, but you can read it between the lines. One of her more famous prayers suggests this transformation. She wrote:
Lead me from death to life, from lies to truth. Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.
Notice that Mother Teresa never pretended to be a saint. She admitted to lying, fearing, and hating. Like all of us, she wanted to be led from these things. Every time she prayed this prayer, she acknowledged her own despair.
I believe God is the impulse for hope that exists in all people, a light that enlightens each person, working in us, wooing us, if you will, to a higher path, a better way.
What she told her confessors secretly, she hinted at publicly. She also suggested the solution to her struggle. Did you catch her decision? In response to despair, she did not suggest faith. Watching countless people die in the most horrible ways, she knew that faith is fickle, easily threatened, and quick to abandon us. Faced with despair, Mother Teresa chose hope.
It was this hope that allowed her to continue to love, even when she’d lost her faith. It was this enduring hope that inspired so many, regardless of what she believed.
I believe God is the impulse for hope that exists in all people, a light that enlightens each person, working in us, wooing us, if you will, to a higher path, a better way. Loving us when we succeed. Loving us when we fail. But always inspiring us to be our better selves.
Yes, my friends, Hope Is Here! Amen.