Hope is a common word. It is commonly used in Christian discussions. It seems to be increasingly used in general discussions too. But I found when I stopped to think about it that hope is generally vague. For Christians we have some notion of a wonderful place called heaven, for the atheist we have some notion of a “better” future.
But what is hope? How does it work? Is hope real or will any hope do? How does it affect my life? It is, perhaps, into this context of vague hopes that people draw comfort from that the cynics may paraphrase Nietzsche as saying ??? “Hope is the opium of the masses.” How can hope really affect our lives? Surely it is merely a matter of emotional comfort and of no real substance?
This little treatise attempts to answer some of these questions in four sections. The first section tries to discuss what hope is generally and illustrate hope prevalent it is in our societies and everyday discussions. The second sections aims to add substance to the hope presented in the Bible, giving one concrete and grand hope. The third section discusses how this grand how can be trusted and not merely treated as fiction. The final section goes on to discuss how this concrete and sure hope affects and informs the way we live daily.