Wednesday, December 13, 2006 AD
The comfort of hope
Christopher Howse devotes his weekly Sacred Mysteries column in the Daily Telegraph to the subject of hope, occasioned by the re-publication of an anthology Howse edited that was originally called "Comfort", but has now been renamed "The Assurance of Hope". As Howse points out:
Love for God, for example, is "a participation in the love that God has for us, which he showed us first, before we had an inkling of him and his lovability". In the same way:
"God is the cause of future events, as he was of the past," continues Howse. "The covenant he chose to make is factored in to the plan for billions of personal histories."
He concludes:
In a way this is a less appealing title, but ... it gives a better indication of the book's scope.The problem with the original title, Howse suggests, was that people misunderstand the nature of "comfort" (though personally I suspect the publishers were also concerned people would think a book with the title "Comfort" was directed only at the bereaved). People confuse being comforted with being comfy:
There is a fabric conditioner called Comfort, and this suggests that being comfortable is something, like chocolate, that people will pay good money for. But it was hardly what I was getting at.By contrast, Christian comfort is based on what the writer to the Hebrews calls "the assurance of hope". This, like the associated virtues of faith and love, "cannot just be stoked up in the heart by applied effort": these qualities are a gift from God.
Indeed, complacent self-cosseting (with which many distance themselves from the harshness of the world) is the least likely option to achieve its aim. It is like falling asleep in the snow.
Love for God, for example, is "a participation in the love that God has for us, which he showed us first, before we had an inkling of him and his lovability". In the same way:
Hope would be dubious if it rested on our previous experience. It is not like hoping there is enough petrol in the tank to get you home. This hope is based on God's intervention.God's love is "utterly dependable", because "God has made promises and he has the power to keep them", and he is not a liar.
"God is the cause of future events, as he was of the past," continues Howse. "The covenant he chose to make is factored in to the plan for billions of personal histories."
He concludes:
Therefore the offer of hope is always open. Though we spit out into the dust the good things given to us, and break faith till we can no longer recognise it, hope is still not withdrawn. Hope is not the hand that the drowning man puts up above the waves. It is the hand that reaches down to save him from drowning.
