Choosing Hope
Where does hope come from?
My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids, though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. "O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting place. Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbor. For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return. My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness, if I say to the Pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,' where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?" - Job 16:16-22,17:1,13-16
In an article in Psychology Today magazine, the author, a college professor, talks about a little test he does with his students.
He asks them where they believe their hope comes from. the head, the heart or the holy, and he has them point with their hands to the source, indicating above the head for the holy response.
He has found that most of his students choose the heart, but whatever they choose, they do so without hesitation, as though our source of hope is something we all intrinsically know.
I tend to favor a combination of head and holy, myself, because I truly believe we choose to be hopeful. It may be replenished and nourished by the Holy Spirit, but if we decide to, we can let all sorts of thoughts seep in to block it.
The setup in today's reading is a simple one. God puts his confidence in Job to maintain hope and faith despite adversities flailed against him.
But Job falls short of God's expectations, in my opinion. He cries out to God for an explanation, seeking a meeting where he can offer his case for better treatment.
Job blames God for how he, Job, reacts to bad times.
He does so because he feels judged by his friends. Yes, there is the loss he experiences, but he chooses to give up hope, and that is where I think he fails to be truly faithful to God.
When we choose hope, we accept the Holy help God sends, and we don't blame God for what we feel or endure.
Some say hope is a form of optimism, but I think optimism and hope go hand in hand. One comes with and not from the other.
I am blessed to have both.
More to come...