At the core of hope lies two important characteristics, namely desire and expectation. The desire for something that is yet to be obtained, and the expectation of obtaining it becomes the pillars that support hope as a virtue. Without such desire, there will be no anticipation, and thus no hope. Without an expectation of achievement, a desire would remain a dream, something far and out of reach. Expectations are supported by certainty. Without certainty, expectations become meaningless. If I desire something that I know with certainty I will not achieve,expectation is lost, and the desire remains like an unquenchable fire. Thus, hope is defined by certainty though it exists in the realm of anticipation. There is no hope when there is no certainty.
Certainty occurs in the absence of doubt. Absolute certainty equals complete absence of doubt. When the human senses alone become the gauge of certainty, absolute certainty seems absolutely impossible. When all forms of expectations are placed on the ability of humanity alone, nothing is truly certain. A brief look at the history of science points out to the uncertainty to which all human knowledge succumbs. Even some of the most profound scientific theories are not without exceptions. Thus, certainty seems to be found in continuously changing degrees, and absolute certainty becomes an idealistic extreme. When we begin to see certainty as impossible, hope becomes inexistent. However, hope is an implicit prerequisite of human existence. It is something we simply cannot do without. Hope gives meaning to our lives and thus motivates us to keep living. Survival seems to require hope, and realising this, we have learnt to build our own false certainties to sustain hope. These certainties are built on opinion rather than truth. The statement by the french philosopher Ren'e Descartes seem to summarize the state of mind in which we convince ourselves of the solution for certainty;
cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. Thus, certainty changes from truth to a state of mind, and the hope that is limited by this certainty can only take us as far as our minds can. As a result, we create a whole avenue of hopelessness empowered by pain, to which death seems like the only escape. And because hope is limited to the human mind, death is the limit of hope. As such, survival on earth becomes the ultimate cause, and sacrifice falls from virtue to vice. We become individualistic, seeking to protect and guard our territories, hoping to live eternally in a perishable world. Life after death remains merely a fantasy. Heaven becomes nothing but a dream, and God becomes a figment of our imagination. The culture of such a society leads to and ultimately ends in death.
Can hope be redeemed, that it may in turn redeem life? At this point, we are left with only one path. If hope is to reach beyond human limitations and end in pastures of life, it must be based on certainties that are beyond these limitations. Certainty should be based on truth, as opposed to opinions. To find such certainty, we must have faith. Faith is the confident belief in truth which need not rest on reason alone. Nevertheless, faith is not irrational simply because it is confidence in the truth.It is truth that defines logic and not vice versa. Thus, truth need not be constrained to the limitations of human rationale, simply because it is and always will be the truth, regardless of what we think. Truth is always objective. It does not bend to the human will. But if all we see around us seem to be nothing but mere opinion, what is truth? We often find ourselves wanting to know this truth that we may believe and have faith. But how do we know truth?
In order to recognize the truth and allow it to shape the way we think, we must first replace the lense of subjectivity with an objective mindset. Grey does not exist. Things may seem complicated and difficult to comprehend, but comprehension is not always the first criteria in embracing truth. At times, we must be willing to accept that the only evidence that is really needed for truth is faith. When we adapt to the " understand first, believe later" attitude, we may once again find our journey limited to what we can understand. Even a genius would agree to not knowing many things, and yet, our current culture teaches us that nothing is beyond the reach of our minds. If everyone were to believe and embrace this mode of thinking, we are left with various degrees of conclusions, which are all nothing more than opinions limited by our respective degrees of ignorance. In fact, if the truth is only to be known by reason, only smart people would have the right to know, believe, hope and live. Thus, a great sense of objectivity is necessary if we are to have hope. We begin by putting our faith in the fact that truth leads to life. In other words, truth is almost always pro-life. It supports, encourages and nurtures life. More importantly, its life-giving nature extends beyond the limitations of the physical world, towards life everlasting.
A word that often finds itself associated with 'life' is 'love'. In the human civilization, life naturally begins at love. Unlike animals that behave according to pre-programmed behavioural patterns, human beings can arguably choose to programme their own behaviour and act according to what we call a 'will'. Such freedom of choice changes the life-giving act of sexual intercourse into one that is rooted in love. Even in a self-proclaimed modernist society, acts like rape, sexual abuse, incest and prostitution are considered unethical and unacceptable. Even in societies that hold no respect for religious matrimonial rites, people still choose to have sex with the ones they claim to have a 'relationship' with.The act of sexual intercourse seems to be unavoidably connected to emotional attachments and a deeper sense of belonging. Thus, we encounter the phrase ' I love you' prior to the act of sex. This very connection (between sex and love) points human civilisation to the roots of its very beginning, love. The fact that human families and relationships are sustained by this same love comes as no surprise. If the element of love is removed from the development of a human being, he or she becomes incomplete. This is witnessed in the social issues experienced by youths from broken homes.Thus, love sustains us. If love is the beginning and also the present, love must also be the end life. In fact, love becomes the only thing worth living for, and also the only thing worth dying for.
If hope is needed to sustain life, it must be rooted in certainty. If certainty is to lead to happiness, it must be rooted in faith of the truth. The truth is love. Thus, hope lies in love. But where do we find a love that is capable of living up to these expectations? Where do we find love that never fades? When we seek a love that is life-sustaining, we are actually looking for a love that has no weakness. Who can love us so perfectly and infinitely? The only Entity entitled to such infinite perfection is God. Christianity teaches us that God is Love. Thus, the search that begins at the very beginning ends in the perfect end. In order to experience such love, we must first seek to experience a relationship with the Perfect Lover. Through the Incarnation (God became Flesh), the loving embrace of God has been extended to its fullest to humankind. The only thing left is to receive this warm embrace with an open heart. This reception towards love begins with our relationship with God and pours out to our relationship with one another. Once received and poured out, this love will change the world.