DESPAIR or HOPE A Choice
He had it all….great wealth, fame, possessions, the admiration of many, the attention and embrace of many women, the thrill of revitalizing old industries and the creation of new enterprises, a contributor of millions of dollars to charitable causes. Observers would call his life a full and successful one, despite failures in his marriages and some enterprises. Yes, he had done it all! Yet as he approached the age at which he knew the end of his life would be coming, he was uncomfortable and even dispirited as it dawned upon him that all his accomplishments might actually be meaningless in the end. Was his inevitable death really the end? There must be something more. A sense of despair began to enter into his consciousness. Frustrated, although he moaned about death, he feared and trembled more about the sense of nothingness after death.
The despair he was beginning to experience and which was haunting him was not the despair of the average man, who despairs over financial or family issues. His despair was deeper and far more worrisome than the despair about money or other material items. His despair was about the onrushing entrance into nothingness….the end of everything, no new challenges to overcome, no successes, just nothing. There was no hope in his life for anything after death. His despair was becoming more all-encompassing each day. “Why isn’t there more?” he agonized.
His frustration grew as he contemplated the millions of people who felt no despair as death marched towards them. So many seemed to have hope for the life after death; for them death was not the end but only a new beginning. He tried to dismiss the religious among them as superstitious or stupid or having been sold a lie. Yet he knew differently; many of those religious individuals were very intelligent, perceptive, and reasonable people. They all had one thing in common….Hope, a hope for a fulfilling future after death, a union with God. The hope that he witnessed in his religious acquaintances was a rock solid certainty, a guarantee that God’s promises will be fulfilled. The promise would be God Himself and the guarantor of this promise is the risen Christ.
Although he would not allow himself to believe in God, yet so many people did believe in the divine. Were they correct in their belief in God and the hope for eternal life? Such a thought was contrary to his core belief system. Yet was it not possible or, even likely, that so many people are correct in their belief in the existence of loving, eternal God? Was their hope for the future well founded? Could he move himself to actually believe in God? Was faith in God possible for him? If he answers yes, then he has begun his journey to a new life. If the answer is no, then despair is the victor and hope is rejected….and nothingness is his future. The choice is his.
Suggested Readings
“Josef Pieper: An Anthology” published by Ignatius Press Chapters 9 and 10
“Fundamentals of the Faith”, by Peter Kreeft , Ignatius Press, Chapter 29 “Hope”
“The Treasure of Catholic Wisdom”, edited by John H. Hardon, S.J. Fulton J. Sheen’s essay on “Hope”