Hope

Several times now, it has crossed my mind that, as much as definite corrective measures must be undertaken to repair and recover our crashing (crashed?) economy, so must there be hope. One is no less important than the other.

I remember reading a statement by Hal Lindsey, a favorite author of mine, whose book "The Liberation of Planet Earth" (now re-titled "Amazing Grace") I was reading when I, as Christians would say, 'came to Christ'. (In truth, I would say He came to me...but that's another story!) Lindsey observed that man can live 'x' amount of days without food, and 'x' amount of days without water, but without hope, barely seconds. You may not even realize how hope is what keeps you going. We all are looking for the next step, something better, something or something else that will improve the quality of our life, or our day. Even if it's just your next meal. Hopeful expectations propel us forward. We begin a project, chore or just about anything! because we are expecting to accomplish a goal, see a result. If you believed there would never be that result, would you even start? Why bother? But if there's hope...

Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man "..thinketh in his heart, so is he." While this section of Scripture is actually warning us of the deceitfulness of the actions of a certain caliber of man, with a certain mindset, the principle is sound. You want hope to be in your heart. Christ in you, if he is in you, is called "the hope" of glory. (Colossians 1:27) Abraham of Old Testament fame, when informed by God that he, an approximately 100 year old man (whose wife was no spring chicken!) would "...father...many nations", became the man who "against hope believed in hope" (Romans 4:18). Now I'm thinkin' that a feat like that, a century-old couple having a baby, from whom no less nations would spring forth! is definitely comparable to restoring a national economy. I'm thinkin' that if one happened, so can the other. (Now, my Bible reading followers know the outcome of this tale of old, but for those who may not be familiar with the rest of the story: Abraham & Sarah's miracle baby Isaac grew up and became the eventual father of Jacob, re-named Israel, from whence sprang the twelve tribes of Israel. ) Time constraints prohibit a more detailed geneaological retracing, but I imagine it's possible. For now, my parting comment in this paragraph is: And the rest is history...

(Oh, and for you God-haters out there who may be thinking, yeah, well, look at the mess Israel is in, to you I say, this story's not over yet. His plans for Israel are still playing themselves out...)

One last Scriptural example (bear with me, my non-Christian readers) - although, again, the import of this statement is more spiritually directed, still..."...he that ploweth should plow in hope..." (1 Corinthians 9:10). The measures that America takes to fix her economy should be taken in hope. As conflicted and oppositional as parties and citizens may feel, or be, over these issues and their origins, solutions can be found. The imperfection of them shall not stop us from hoping for, and striving for, better ones.