Th e Light of Hope
God Is in Charge Hope includes the feeling that Someone greater than we are is in control, the knowledge that everything will work out— even if we don’t know how. Hope gets us out of bed in the morning and inspires us to plant a garden, play the piano, or do other beautiful and healing things. To have hope is to have one of the three theological virtues. The seeds of these virtues—faith, hope, and charity—are planted in our hearts by God. He waters them by his grace. They grow strong in the light of his love. The Church tells us, “Hope assures us that, with God’s grace, we will see our way through what now seems such a daunting challenge. For believers, hope is not a matter of optimism, but a source for strength and action in demanding times.”51 When we have hope, we surrender our pain and worries to God. We believe his promise: “I know well the plans I have in mind for you, . . . plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Anthropologists have found evidence that even the earliest peoples hoped in some kind of god or creator. They didn’t know God’s name, but they still felt Someone Greater than They was out there. They believed and hoped in God as they understood him, turning to him to send the rain, to provide food, and to calm the storm. Hope is still planted in our hearts today. But now we are blessed to know the source of this hope—to know God’s name, to know his Son.
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