I think the point is that I have to *willfully* surrender and that this act is bound up in repetition. I have to be *freely* bound and renew that act of freely choosing to be bound, choosing to surrender, every time a chance to assert my own creaturely will occurs. I have to choose it over and over again, every day.
This is where the concept of “being saved” in the modern Evangelical sense falls apart…it’s seen as a one-time event where one “accepts Christ” when it’s not. It’s an ongoing infinite movement towards the infinitely distant point of the Divine. Theosis seen as a process of transformation, a model like that of the growth of an organism, as opposed to an intellectual assent to a set of propositions that is somehow seen as salvific in itself.
I believe religious hope as you describe it is only one theological perspective (even within Christianity). There are theological streams of the faith in which agency has a much stronger role. Personally, my faith and relationship with God grew wings when I learned that, contra the form of Christianity I grew up in, my agency *mattered* and was more than something to be merely denied. God works in the world, yes, but by far most often through the agency and actions of people.
I am curious and look forward to reading this blog in full.... as it seems to me that this is really just a way to still hope without agency or really even pathway... because we trust that God is both. Isn't this magical thinking to not face despair? Is this realistic? Let's look at prayer - is prayer more like playing the lottery, hoping God will pick our plea? We know he doesn't pick everyone as there are millions praying, continuing to suffer without a miracle. And in many circles, if we don't trust, don't surrender to a God that is the guilde.. that has a purpose, we are told that they don't have enough faith.. or the numerous shaming comments we could all probably list. Please go on, Richard... and explain how we can find hope, when life looks bleak.
“The Creation of a Thousand Forests is in One Acorn.”
- Emerson
Seeing the positive potential in someone or something, is quintessential to the success and growth of any enterprise we engage in, whether it be spiritual, economic, athletic or otherwise. Hope should be wonderfully and dynamically infectious, socially mnemonic and desiring of reconciliation and unity. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of ‘Hope’ is often inextricably woven into the desire for material satisfaction, the aggregation of power, and or Epicurean pleasures. (Actually though, ‘Ataraxia’ as he promoted it originally, should be inseparable from ‘Hope’.) Two instances of profound ‘Hope’ in overwhelming circumstances come to mind from scripture -
Job 19:25-27 - "One day I will stand on the earth and know that my redeemer liveth"
&
John 11:24 – “Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Hope pushes back on Nature and doesn’t allow it to have the last word. Hope should be bold enough to challenge assertions (especially theological) and conventional wisdom and be willing to question and transcend the status quo. Reflecting back on the work of Eric Fromm, Hope is often seen as being concomitant, but also deeply paradoxical –
“Hope is paradoxical. It is neither passive waiting nor is it unrealistic forcing of circumstances that cannot occur. It is like the crouched tiger, which will jump only when the moment for jumping has come. Neither tired reformism nor pseudo-radical adventurism is an expression of hope. To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime. There is no sense in hoping for that which already exists or for that which cannot be. Those whose hope is weak, settle down for comfort or for violence; those whose hope is strong, see and cherish all signs of new life and are ready every moment to help the birth of that which is ready to be born.” – From ‘The Revolution of Hope’
There seems to be a kind of violent determinism in some theological circles of Apocalyptic thinking where a ‘Hope’ in punishment and retribution are the central themes of eschatology. Orchestrating and driving towards that future through political and pseudo/religious manifestos, then redefines ‘Hope’ as a means to an exclusionist and privileged end. As Fromm pointed out; “The intrinsic element of ‘Hope’ should be horizontally prophetic, not vertically deterministic.”
I think the point is that I have to *willfully* surrender and that this act is bound up in repetition. I have to be *freely* bound and renew that act of freely choosing to be bound, choosing to surrender, every time a chance to assert my own creaturely will occurs. I have to choose it over and over again, every day.
This is where the concept of “being saved” in the modern Evangelical sense falls apart…it’s seen as a one-time event where one “accepts Christ” when it’s not. It’s an ongoing infinite movement towards the infinitely distant point of the Divine. Theosis seen as a process of transformation, a model like that of the growth of an organism, as opposed to an intellectual assent to a set of propositions that is somehow seen as salvific in itself.
I believe religious hope as you describe it is only one theological perspective (even within Christianity). There are theological streams of the faith in which agency has a much stronger role. Personally, my faith and relationship with God grew wings when I learned that, contra the form of Christianity I grew up in, my agency *mattered* and was more than something to be merely denied. God works in the world, yes, but by far most often through the agency and actions of people.
I am curious and look forward to reading this blog in full.... as it seems to me that this is really just a way to still hope without agency or really even pathway... because we trust that God is both. Isn't this magical thinking to not face despair? Is this realistic? Let's look at prayer - is prayer more like playing the lottery, hoping God will pick our plea? We know he doesn't pick everyone as there are millions praying, continuing to suffer without a miracle. And in many circles, if we don't trust, don't surrender to a God that is the guilde.. that has a purpose, we are told that they don't have enough faith.. or the numerous shaming comments we could all probably list. Please go on, Richard... and explain how we can find hope, when life looks bleak.
“The Creation of a Thousand Forests is in One Acorn.”
- Emerson
Seeing the positive potential in someone or something, is quintessential to the success and growth of any enterprise we engage in, whether it be spiritual, economic, athletic or otherwise. Hope should be wonderfully and dynamically infectious, socially mnemonic and desiring of reconciliation and unity. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of ‘Hope’ is often inextricably woven into the desire for material satisfaction, the aggregation of power, and or Epicurean pleasures. (Actually though, ‘Ataraxia’ as he promoted it originally, should be inseparable from ‘Hope’.) Two instances of profound ‘Hope’ in overwhelming circumstances come to mind from scripture -
Job 19:25-27 - "One day I will stand on the earth and know that my redeemer liveth"
&
John 11:24 – “Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Hope pushes back on Nature and doesn’t allow it to have the last word. Hope should be bold enough to challenge assertions (especially theological) and conventional wisdom and be willing to question and transcend the status quo. Reflecting back on the work of Eric Fromm, Hope is often seen as being concomitant, but also deeply paradoxical –
“Hope is paradoxical. It is neither passive waiting nor is it unrealistic forcing of circumstances that cannot occur. It is like the crouched tiger, which will jump only when the moment for jumping has come. Neither tired reformism nor pseudo-radical adventurism is an expression of hope. To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime. There is no sense in hoping for that which already exists or for that which cannot be. Those whose hope is weak, settle down for comfort or for violence; those whose hope is strong, see and cherish all signs of new life and are ready every moment to help the birth of that which is ready to be born.” – From ‘The Revolution of Hope’
There seems to be a kind of violent determinism in some theological circles of Apocalyptic thinking where a ‘Hope’ in punishment and retribution are the central themes of eschatology. Orchestrating and driving towards that future through political and pseudo/religious manifestos, then redefines ‘Hope’ as a means to an exclusionist and privileged end. As Fromm pointed out; “The intrinsic element of ‘Hope’ should be horizontally prophetic, not vertically deterministic.”