Arguing With A Saint

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.

-Martin Luther

In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul wrote that of faith, hope and love, it was love that was the greatest of the three. It probably isn't smart to argue with a saint, even a dead one but fools rush in where the politically correct fear to tread, as they say (or something like that). I think St. Paul was correct in identifying the big three, I just believe that it is hope, not love that is the most important.

 Many live without faith in much beyond themselves and their own abilities. Even animals feel affection (I only have to look at Jasper to be reminded of that) but only people experience hope. Unlike faith which is purely intellectual and love which is purely emotional, hope is both; a human mix of emotion and thought.

Hope is what gives us the strength to stand again when we stumble or are driven to our knees. It is hope that gives us the courage to struggle on in the dark until we find light again. It is hope that drives us on when we are alone and have lost our faith and hope is what gives us the belief that we will find love again. It is the ability to hope that separates us from all other living things because it is hope that makes us human.

The tradition is that the sign over the gates of Hell read, "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter." Hell rejoices in those who place their faith in vain and celebrates love unrequited but it can't countenance hope because it is the belief that there is something better. Hell is not a place for me; I believe that Hell, like despair, is the absence of hope.

I have learned in my life that you can live without faith and get through the days without love but not without hope. Without hope, you lose the ability to believe in anything and your faith is lost. Without hope you lose the ambition to love again or trust the love that may be around you already. Without hope, there is little but despair and I have learned that despair is just another name for Hell.

I am one of the fortunate ones. I found hope again in my life and am filled with it every day. That hope gives me faith in those I love and that my faith in something beyond myself is not in vain. I have lived without that faith and without love and survived. It is hope that leads me on and causes me to believe in myself and this place we all share.

Someday, I hope, we all will get it right, maybe not in my lifetime but some day.

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