The importance of hope
The cancer with which I live is a chronic, fatal disease, i.e., there
is no known cure.
To my surprise, I recently saw an article in the popular press that a reported
a case in which a woman appears to have been completely cured of multiple
myeloma. I've not seen similar reports nor have I seen any scientific evidence
that supports the possibility of a complete cure. Is the woman's alleged cure a
fluke, a case of remission masquerading as a complete cure in a way that her healthcare
providers do not provide, or an actual cure? I don't know.
What I do know is that the article added a small amount of light at the
end of the dark tunnel (the valley of death?) through which I am currently journeying.
As a long-time supporter of the right to die and of assisted living, I have
given considerable thought to what happens when life becomes devoid of hope. That,
I'm discovering, is not the same thing as valuing hope for the ways in which it
strengthens and enriches.
In the current US presidential contest, Donald Trump has tapped into a group
of voters who are angry because they feel abandoned by the system and who often
are unable to see hope for a better life. Trump's popularity indicts the
American political and economic systems for having become so skewed in favor of
the rich and powerful that many of the most vulnerable among us lack hope.
Their hopelessness stands in stark contrast to the hope for a better life that
migrants generally see, a hope that fuels long journeys at great cost and risk
to a state (e.g., the UK or the US) in which the migrant perceives real hope
for a better life.
Karl Marx and many others have criticized religion in general and Christianity
in particular for emphasizing that hope primarily means looking to life after
death. Too many theologians and believers are guilty of emphasizing that understanding
of hope. My experience with cancer, Donald Trump's appeal to Americans who lack
hope, and hope's power to motivate human migrations all underscore the
importance of hope for a better today as well as a better tomorrow.
For what do you hope? How does that hope strengthen or enrich you life?
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