Loving A Hidden God
HOPE IN DARKNESS
O Wonderful Healer, you care for us all:
Soothing our painful swelling,
Supporting our fading strength,
Cutting away the useless in our lives,
Retaining only that which is truly necessary,
Saving those given up for lost,
Who can despair of life
Seeing how the Son of God has come down to help us?
The Christian Combat, 11.12.
I. DESPAIR AND HOPE
Despair follows on the realization that the times are bad and are unlikely to get any better, that one's condition, the circumstances for living, will always be irremediably bad. It is understandable that people will sometimes try to escape life when they perceive that the human environment, the cruelty and anger and hate they see all around them, is simply part of the human condition and that nothing can be done about it. Delicate souls, they say "I cannot live here any more" and move on to something else either a supposedly better life or simply non-life. For them oblivion is a better alternative to living in conditions without hope.
Hope is the antidote to such despair. It is an attitude of mind whereby a person is able to bear up under a difficult present and have the trust that the future will be better. A hope for the present rests on the view that, with all the evils that exist, the present situation and the world in general is overall full of promise. For Christians, hope in the midst of a somewhat upsetting present rests on the conviction that they are not alone, that God is near and is ready and willing to give the support needed to get by and make the future better.
Augustine believed that hope was one of the great theological virtues, those "habits of mind" that are essential for discovering and finally attaining union with God. They are interconnected and interdependent. You cannot hope for something that you do not already believe in. You cannot hope to get somewhere if you do not know that a "somewhere" exists. But, at the same time, faith also depends on hope? How can you have faith that someday you will find the "love of your life" if you have no hope of ever being loved? Also, hope depends on charity because the essence of hope is to want something, to desire to be united with it. But how is this possible if you do not first love it in someway? But at the same time love depends on hope. How how can you love when you see that your love, your dream of union, is hopeless? (Sermon 359A, 5)
II. THE NEED AND GOOD EFFECTS OF HOPE
Augustine was convinced that any person gets through life only because they have hope for something. Even if this life is terrible, we can "hope as we cope" if see something better in a future that is possible. (Sermon 47, 1) Although we are surrounded by eternity, there is no question that our trip towards it can be long and arduous. Like a small child trudging along the hot streets of the seashore town, traversing block after block in the depths of exhaustion, it is only the hope of soon plunging into the waters of the distant sea that keeps it going. If hope disappears, it will lose its strength refuse to walk any farther. (Sermon 158, 8)
It is the imperfection of life that makes hope necessary; it is the force of hope that drives us to seek something better. If this life were too sweet, we would not be pushed to seek the better life of heaven. If these our times were not sometimes harsh, we might stand idle relishing the passing pleasures of our earthy games. Even in our bad times we find that this life is sometime sweet. Imagine how it would be if it were always sweet? Who would want to move on? (Sermon 346A, 8)
God, of course, could arrange our lives so that hope would not be necessary. We would then possess what we wanted, not pine for it. Why does God not give us the "good life" now? The answer is simple: we might come to expect it. We might come to think that the purpose of our religion is to bring constant ecstasy rather than to get us through this life and into the next one. (City of God 22.22.4) Living a life of hope for what we do not have expands us, getting us beyond this cramped life that we lead day by day: a life wanting only food and drink, a decent job and a few friends, a good sleep and a health that is not too bad. Through hope we begin to dream of worlds never seen, of loves yet to be found, of great works yet to be accomplished. Hope draws us out of our pedestrian present and encourages us to dream of flying. (Commentary on the 1st Epistle of John, 4.6)
III. REASONS FOR HOPE
Especially for one who believes the message of Jesus Christ, there are many good reasons for hope despite the trials of life, trials which are perhaps anticipated in the cries of the newborn infant. (Sermon 60, 2)
First of all, this life is not as bad as we sometimes make it out to be. After an extensive description of what is "wrong" with this world, Augustine offers a glorious paean to life. The following words are my poor attempt at interpretation but it is his thoughts that sing:
Just think of the world in which we live! It is true that on some days we have our miseries and are worn out by our work, but think of this earthly place we live on! Think of the thousands of beautiful things for seeing and the thousands of materials just right for making things. There is an infinitely changing beauty in the sky and the land and the sea. What varieties of color do we see in the changing moon and sun and stars! There are the soft shadows of noon forests, the shades and shells of spring flowers, the different songs and exotic dresses of the birds. How amazing are the animals who surround us ... the smallest ant even more amazing than the huge bulk of the whale! Think of the grand spectacle of the sea as it clothes itself in its various colors, sometimes green, sometimes purple, sometimes the bluest of blue. And how grand it is when there is a storm, especially grand when we are not sailing on the heaving surface of the sea but are caressed by its soft mist as we stand safe and warm on the shore.
Think of how many foods we have to stop our hunger, how many different tastes there are to tempt even the most "picky" eater! How many fine things do we have to help us stay healthy or help us get well when (inevitably) we get sick. How grateful should we be just for things like the soothing change of day to night, or the wonder of night becoming day, or the quiet refreshing breeze that kisses us on humid nights. How grateful should we be for the gentle animals and the silent plants that give themselves to us so that we might have the wool and cotton for our clothes. And remember! These are not rewards for any great work we have done. Indeed they are given to us now in our wounded condition when we still need to be healed.
Above all, as we go through this life with its ups and downs, we have a promise from our lovely Lord that if we use well the wonderful things he has given us here on earth, we shall receive even greater things later on. We shall receive a peace beyond death and all the healing and glory that goes with it. We shall have the happiness that comes in enjoying our earthly loves, embracing them as we are embraced in the arms of our loving, lovely God. In the midst of our happiness we will suddenly realize that it is everlasting. We will suddenly know that finally and forever our joy will never end. (City of God, 22.24)
In an earlier chapter of the same work, he summarizes his hope-filled optimism by simply saying:
Indeed, the great good God has made us humans the loveliest ornaments of the earth. We can find some peace here, even within the limits of a life that will someday end. It is possible for some of us to sometimes have good health, peace of mind, and to find loved ones who care for us. And even if we lose some of these great goods for a time, there is always hope that we will get them back someday. And, in the meantime, we live surrounded by wonders that seem just made for us: the light of a clear day, the sound of music, air that is just perfect for breathing and sparkling waters that are just fine for breathing. We have everything here for curing and feeding our old body and making it feel good. And there is even enough left over to help make it pretty.
City of God, 19.13
Even when the times were not so good, when the days were bad, Augustine was able to have hope because of his conviction that God was near. He was not so naive as to believe that bad times would never come. Indeed, his own experience contradicted that fantasy. After the turmoil of his early years, after losing a son and mother and friends in death, after spending his life to make North Africa Christian only to die with barbarians pounding on the gates of his city, after a series of real (or imagined) illnesses, he was far from denying that bad things happen to good and bad people alike. For him this life was more like an oil-press than a vacation Spa. It was a place for purifying the good and identifying the bad. Sometimes pressure comes from natural disasters; at other times, from the malice of human beings. However it comes, it challenges the good to come to the top and forces the bad into the depths. As in a goldsmith's furnace, the gold would never be purified if the straw were not burnt up. (Sermon 113A, 11)
As we search for good times there is a need day by day to simply get through the times that are not so good. In such times it is hopeful and helpful to know that we are not standing alone, that there is someone standing by our side ready, willing and able to help us endure. Jesus may have left this earth on the day of Ascension but he has never left us. (Confessions 4, 12) Wherever we wander through space and time the words of Paul are true for us too: "... the Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything." (Philippians 4, 4-6) (Sermon 171, 5)
God does not discriminate in granting his presence. He is equally present to and present in rich and poor, men and women, young and old. (Sermon 47, 30)
Indeed, he is present to the sinner as well as the saint. God may be ignored but he will never depart. He remains, willing to reveal himself if asked. Anyone who turns back to him will find him in their hearts. (Confessions 5. 2) God will come and dwell in anyone who does not reject him out of hand. He is not too proud to come to even the most humble. (Sermon 23, 6)
And more, not only is Christ with us now on earth, in some mysterious way we are with him even now in heaven. We are part of his Mystical Body. He is the head; we are the body. He is here below through his compassionate charity; we are in heaven through our hope-filled love. (Commentary on Psalm 122, 1; see Commentary on Psalm 54, 3)
No matter how bad or good this life may be, we have an added reason for hope because we have been promised that we shall live forever and we have it within our power to make that eternal life a happy one. There can be absolutely no doubt that what has been promised will happen because it is Jesus-God himself who has promised it. (Commentary on Psalm 122, 9; see Sermon 372, 3) Christ says to us: "Are you afraid of dying? Look, I suffered death myself! Don't be so afraid! I showed you by my example what to hope for." (Sermon 229H, 3) Christ has promised that, although we cannot control how we shall die, we can choose to live a good life and living in that way we will insure that our life beyond death will be happy.
Granted that we can achieve a happy eternal life if we live a good life in time, how can we live such a life considering our obvious confusion and weakness? Here too our hope rests on a promise, the promise that God will give the grace to live a good life and the forgiveness to cleanse a life that is not so good. Augustine believed that there was no need for those trying to be virtuous to fear that they will inevitably fail in the future. He argues that if God has allowed us to recover from past sins, is it any less likely that he will strengthen us against future challenges? (Sermon 252, 6) Of course it would be foolish to believe that we will never fail. Our first day in a health club does not guarantee that we will be suddenly strong. The flab of years is not dissolved in a day. But at the same time, to despair of ever being strong would be self-defeating. Even the great heroes of the Old and New Testament had their ups and downs. Paul was converted by being knocked off his "high horse" but this did not mean that he would thereafter be preserved from every "sting of the flesh". Even the great Moses alternated between failure and strength. At the red sea he needed two others to help him keep his arms raised so that the chosen people could have safe passage. Is it likely that the same God who supported Moses in his great adventure will desert any of us as we make our more modest way to the promised land? (Sermon 252, 6)
But if we do fail from time to time, there is no question that our sin will be forgiven if we ask. God is not seeking proud perfection, only humble contrition. If he did not want to heal us, he could have easily put us out of our misery. As it is, the fact that we are still alive is a sign that the Divine Doctor has not given up on us. Augustine's encouraging words are just as valid today as they were in the fifth century:
Whatever has been eating away at you from your past life, whatever guilt has been tearing you apart, no matter how big or small your past sin has been, you must not doubt that it can be forgiven.
Sermon 352, # 2; also see Sermon 351, 12
Considering all these truths about his life now and how God helped him get through, it is no wonder that Augustine cried out in joy:
Who of us can despair when we see that the Son of God humbled himself for our sake? Who of us can think that the gates of heaven are forever closed to us, seeing how the Son of God opened them to publicans and harlots? Can we ever doubt that we will be freed from our stubborn perversity, after the example given to us by words and deeds of the Incarnate God?
The Christian Combat, 11.12