AtQ – What do you hope for?
Overcoming despair one hope at a time.
In this week’s Talking Note I offer a reflection on the nature of war. War is a torrent of hell. The pain that comes from it takes generations to transform if ever. Yet, there are those, like my parents, who do wonders in making significant choices towards transformation. They do what they can to interrupt the momentum spurred on by their experience of war.
Such interruptions can be challenging, not just to make happen, but also to sustain. Hope, faith, and love, are three things that must gird the process of transformation, if it is to be for the ultimate good of all involved. This week I pose a question that may help shake some of this out.
What do you hope for?
It is hard to hope for anything in a time of war. The momentum towards destruction is often overwhelming. We can hope for peace, but the hope must be greater than the reality we see around us. What I’m about to propose may be hard to hear. A hope for the end of a war is easy. Of course, we would want the war to end. That hope takes care of the immediate challenge. But it is easy, as with other challenges, to hope for an end to the challenge. The deeper question is what do we hope for on the other side?