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| Hope Vs. Despair |
Hope is about the possible; despair is about the impossible.
- Thomas Aquinas
"We despair when we see no way out.
Suicide is a yielding to this feeling that there is no way out, to despair.
Young people who can see no way out of some oppressive circumstance are often driven to violence and may end up in prison for this reason.
Despair is real and very dark.
We humans are very adept at seeing the impossible and dwelling on it until it takes over our souls. Those who maintain hope are always looking for possibilities, for angles, for creative solutions, for alternatives.
Hope keeps their souls and imaginations alive and, above all, creative. Artists know this.
This is their vocation, to tell the truth but always within the context of the possible."
- Matthew Fox. (Christian Mystics: 365 Readings and Meditations.)
Scripture:
Genesis 19:15-26
15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot [to hurry], saying, “Get up! Take your wife and two daughters who are here [and go], or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But Lot hesitated and lingered. The men took hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the Lord was merciful to him [for Abraham’s sake]; and they brought him out, and left him outside the city [with his family]. 17 When they had brought them outside, one [of the angels] said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, or stop anywhere in the entire valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], or you will be consumed and swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, [not that place] my lords! 19 Please listen, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness (mercy) to me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, because the disaster will overtake me and I will be killed. 20 Now look, this town [in the distance] is near enough for us to flee to, and it is small [with only a few people]. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life will be saved.” 21 And the angel said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also; I will not destroy this town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything [to punish Sodom] until you arrive there.” For this reason the town was named Zoar (few, small).
23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained down brimstone (flaming sulfur) and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew (demolished, ended) those cities, and the entire valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she [d]became a pillar of salt.
Observation:
Notice how, in the Genesis passage above, Lot practices hope while his wife succumbs to the tragic result of her being stuck in despair.
First things first, though, let's be clear that neither one of them wants to leave Sodom - the sin-sick urban environment where they had become accustomed and comfortable.
19:16 makes it clear that Lot is full of hesitation at leaving. Later on, he pleads (successfully!) with the messengers of God not to have to flee comfortable "civilization" fully. This story is clearly NOT about one person who joyfully accepts the call to step beyond their comfort zone and is rewarded while another person fearfully refuses to follow and is punished.
Both Lot and his wife (who goes unnamed in scripture) receive ample encouragement and even physical help to receive the deliverance God desires for them. What really separates them in the end is Lot's ability and decision to see and focus upon the possible in the situation. In verse 19 Lot cries out to his would be rescuers that it would be impossible for he and his family to flee all the way to the mountains ... but that it would be possible to make it to the little town of Zoar. Amazingly, God accedes to this request drawing Lot out of the realm of bondage-to-the-known and into the Holy Land of possibility and freedom.
Lot's wife meets her doom not because God is unable or unwilling to meet her where she is at and lead her to a place where freedom and fulfillment are possible. Rather, she is unable to receive deliverance as a consequence of her inability and/or unwillingness to see what is possible. She is too fixated upon the impossibility of leaving behind what was known and familiar.
Lot chooses to stoke the fire of hope and is set free to live beyond what he knew on his own. The wife chooses to let that fire languish through despair and is encrusted in place - a victim of self-fulfilled self-fulfilling prophecy.
Application:
As I look back upon the adventure of faith so far in this little life of mine, I can see many examples of God prompting, pushing, hand-holding, and negotiating with me to move past my own plans or ideas of what was preferable for me and mine. My plans for myself never included learning spanish, living on an a First Nations' reserve, going to seminary, or serving a church as "pastor".
Yet, here I am.
The path has not been without perils. My detours have been many. More than once I have been beleaguered by despair - even to the point where I thought I'd be stuck as a pillar for sure. If I have done anything right along the way ... if I can take any credit at all for being where I am today; all I can say is that I have always trusted that to lean more fully upon God's providence and love is an option. Sometimes, I have even actively took up that option. Every time I have, I have found myself well beyond the boundaries of familiarity and comfort - surprised to be more fully alive and free.
As you look at your life today, where do you find yourself caught up in patterns or practices that are less than life giving?
What is keeping you from turning in a new direction?
Are you more focussed upon the impossible, or the possible?
Could you imagine talking to God about these circumstances as honestly as Lot did?
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil. Deliver us especially from the sickly fascination upon what lies beyond our power to choose or change. Deliver all your precious creatures from the inward and backward glances of despair. Show us your will for us and grant us the gifts of hope and faith to know all things are indeed possible in You through Christ Jesus! Amen.
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