eschatological hope
At the end of January I finished-up the bulk of my theology teaching gig (still have plenty of grading to do yet) and closed out my final lecture with the clip above. My final lecture was on, of course, “final things”, the big theological word for this being “eschatology”. This area of theology is a rather interesting one, a bit unwieldy and sometimes frightening even, the ways that it has been used and misused are not always pretty or helpful. Fears of a neo-apocalyptic end-of-the-world scenario are cultivated by bad eschatologies. Paralysis about any influence we might be able to have over the state of our environment is triggered by bad eschatologies. An exclusively “me and Jesus” faith with no accountability to one’s fellow human beings can be perpetuated by bad eschatologies.
Bad eschatology bothers me because it often leaves people hopeless, which is the complete opposite of what a good eschatology should do for people. Eschatology can inspire people to be their best selves, to believe in the value of this earth our home (the only home we have), to see their interrelatedness to all other people, to believe in the inherent worth of others, and to believe in their own inherent worth. Eschatological hope is hope in not just the possibility but the probability of new life available for all of creation (that includes us humans!), throughout creation, all the time. This probability lies even at the heart of apocalypse – which I argue, if you look at the breadth of apocalyptic literature in the Judeo-Christian tradition, has nothing to do with the end of the world and everything to do with the destruction of that which is not life-giving in order to make way for the flourishing of life.
Eschatological hope is not pie-in-the-sky “Polyanna” hope – though I do think poor Polyanna gets an undeservedly bad rap for her hopefulness, if more people had that type of optimism, I think the world would be a better place… but I digress. Not pie-in-the-sky hope but hope with teeth, with muscles, with grit, hope that is willing to sweat a bit, hope that knows that hopefulness can be painful, can be dangerous and even deadly. Yet hope still must live on, for without it, why then should we live?
This gritty eschatological hope is what I think Martin Luther King Jr. is talking about in the clip above. It’s about the hope for a better future that both Moses and King had even as the faced their own impending deaths. This is Christian hope: audacious, unyielding, foolish, and unabashed. It is the kind of hope that comes from truly loving God and neighbour – the ultimate goals of Christian discipleship. It is this hope that overcomes even death to say that life will flourish despite all that would say otherwise. It is hope that defies fear and strengthens us for an uncertain future – which is always how the future stretches out before us, open, uncertain, and therefore full of possibility.
My prayer for us all: that we might be strengthened and strengthen one another in our hope, for it is our surest ally in promoting the flourishing of life for all of us and indeed the whole creation. Dare to be foolish, dare to hope.
its amazing that so many people think that speech was somehow only about the civil rights movement. the more i read of his writings and sermons the more i believe kings hope was far broader than the civil rights movement. i believe it stretched to the possibility of all mankind experiencing freedom in christ.
and i too have that dream.
Polyanna does get a bad rap and the name itself, when used, has taken on a meaning as being “naive”, which is the worst thing to be in a world that values sophistication, cynicism, and sarcasm. However, in spiritual circles that talk about “the law of attraction”, Pollyanna is a positive example because of her focus on the best in people actually does bring out the best in people. Given the choice between wanting to believe in the best in others and encourage that aspect in others versus being cynical, jaded, and untrusting, sometimes it’s better to believe in the best in others.
I don’t know what to make of the whole Pollyanna concept. I haven’t seen the film in years, so maybe it’s worth re-watching to see what was so bad about her anyway.