I would like to share with you another essay on Hope. Enjoy!
“Only in situations of extreme hopelessness,
Where hope blooms like a flower during springtime”
It is undeniable that life is full of suffering – full of pain and losses. That has been its way for the last thousand of years of human civilization. It is written in almost all ancient religious texts and books around the world – the study into the causes of suffering, of human suffering. The Israelites suffered under the Egyptian pharaohs, while the Egyptians also suffered under extreme poverty and famine years before that. This has invariably influenced the writing of the Holy Bible, actually the Holy Bible presents countless stories of human suffering, some are presented as God’s punishment for a disobedient people, some to test their faith in Him, and the rest as simply part of God’s plan. Under the three major religions today, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, human suffering is considered part of God’s ultimate plan for the universe. It is in His hands alone that our history and destiny is written.
But is this a true representation of reality? Does God truly wish pain and suffering on his creation, his people? Besides, how can God be merciful and at the same time punitive? The image of God in the Holy Bible presents him as a cruel God – someone who gave man the ability to choose between good and evil, and yet interferes in their affairs if He does not like what He sees. Is it logical to think this way?
God has played a critical role in the development of human civilization and yet until today we view Him as a vindictive God. But is God really vindictive? Is He really the cause of human suffering? Does He directly cause it? Does He will pain to visit us?
Surely a rational person will not think that way. But can we actually reinvent the wheel? Can we come up with a reasonable explanation about the experience of suffering in the context of God’s existence?
Too many questions, yet too few answers. That is the reality of life. But I believe though we can. God is not cruel nor is he vindictive and punitive. God does not cause our suffering but rather like Harold Kushner writes in “When bad things happen to good people,” God wills us to face our suffering and come out of it a stronger individual. God created the universe with a certain natural order but there are dark places in it that hasn’t yet been touched by his goodness. That is why human suffering continues to exist. God doesn’t like to interfere, precisely because it defeats the purpose of giving us free will. Though the Holocaust, the Kosovo and Rwandan genocides, and just recently the World Trade Center bombings and the Darfur genocide in Sudan were all caused by human beings, I can see God revolted in his chair, saddened and outraged by such human cruelty. Yet he cannot act, by interfering with our freedom, it would mean the death of our being human.
Without freedom, we are the same like all other creatures on this planet, driven by instinct, driven by necessity without regard of his fellow-species.
The question really is why do we allow such crimes against humanity to be committed? Is it not an insult to every self-respecting human or society for that matter that these things continue to happen? Surely, just as recently the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center bombings in New York City shocked the world. The thumbprints on the scene are not of God but of human beings – supposedly exercising their God-given right to choose freely. Why do we always drag God’s name when bad things occur? Isn’t it man’s responsibility to take care of the world including its own? I can only surmise there are truly no fool-proof answers to these questions but it basically stares us in our faces – we can actually do something about it.
On a more personal note, I have my own suffering – all my life I have experienced sorrows, sadness, pain and losses. I have been insulted, teased upon, punched, turned down, thrown out, loss a loved one, gotten terribly sick and endured heartaches. But I continue to live. Why you ask? Because suffering opened my eyes to a whole new world – a world that I wouldn’t appreciate if I never failed or have fallen. These “dark” moments in my life taught me a thing or two. It has allowed me to see the light side of things. Suffering opened my eyes to the possibilities of life and though it opened my eyes to these possibilities, it is still up to me to choose the path I believe is right, and in the process, I find myself and my God. How will I know that I am happy if I’ve never been sad? How will I know to take care of myself if I’ve never gotten sick? How will I understand the cycle of life if I’ve never faced death or seen someone die? These things occur precisely because they give meaning to my life, but that meaning I alone can give. We are often asking questions of why, when the question should rather be what now. What do I do with my suffering? Do I run away or do I face it headstrong and full of hope?
Though it seems unlikely all of life’s pain are meant to teach a lesson – a lot of them are, on the larger scale, somehow those massacres and other heinous crimes encourage us to become vigilant, value life all the more and establish nations based on mutual harmony and interdependence. Suffering is not necessarily a part of life but somehow being “humans” who have not yet grown up – suffering has become a consequence of our ignorance of the world.
Whatever my life leads to, I know I am strong enough to face it because of the pain. All my pain left a scar in my heart and though it hurts, it will force me to remember that life is not necessarily a box full of chocolates (though some may argue it is) but rather an empty box given to me and it is up to me what I like to fill it with. Suffering is an integral part of man’s maturity, without suffering man becomes idle, man might never grow up. It is the stuff life is made of. It is the only way we grow, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I know suffering will always be part of my life, and though that will always be the case it is not a reason to give up hoping. For hope is one of life’s most precious gifts. Hope I define here as the unwavering and continuous struggle against despair, against frustration, against giving up. Hope allows us to glimpse what’s beyond us, just as Saint-Exupery said in the Little Prince “What makes the desert beautiful is that somehow far below its surfaces, it holds a spring of fresh water.” And somehow deep inside us, because of suffering certain things come into existence, we discover ourselves and we begin to soar. Through suffering we find that spring of fresh water inside us, we drink from it. And very often than not it is hope. Hope sparks the human spirit to move on in life.
And only in extreme situations of hopelessness does hope truly bloom. Like a flower blooming and ushering forth the springtime season, hope ushers a renewed thirst in man to seek the truth, to seek his God. God doesn’t like us to suffer, but because we live in a physical world and because of our freedom, we become ignorant that our actions act interdependently of each other. Hopefully, in due time we will find our true paradise, if there is ever one, but until that day comes, I must continue hoping, hoping for a better world not only for me but also for the whole of humanity. Just like the flower I mentioned earlier, we may all in due time bloom like flowers during springtime, with all their majestic colors and fragrances to create a better world – full of life, full of hope – full of happiness.
Where hope blooms like a flower during springtime”
It is undeniable that life is full of suffering – full of pain and losses. That has been its way for the last thousand of years of human civilization. It is written in almost all ancient religious texts and books around the world – the study into the causes of suffering, of human suffering. The Israelites suffered under the Egyptian pharaohs, while the Egyptians also suffered under extreme poverty and famine years before that. This has invariably influenced the writing of the Holy Bible, actually the Holy Bible presents countless stories of human suffering, some are presented as God’s punishment for a disobedient people, some to test their faith in Him, and the rest as simply part of God’s plan. Under the three major religions today, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, human suffering is considered part of God’s ultimate plan for the universe. It is in His hands alone that our history and destiny is written.
But is this a true representation of reality? Does God truly wish pain and suffering on his creation, his people? Besides, how can God be merciful and at the same time punitive? The image of God in the Holy Bible presents him as a cruel God – someone who gave man the ability to choose between good and evil, and yet interferes in their affairs if He does not like what He sees. Is it logical to think this way?
God has played a critical role in the development of human civilization and yet until today we view Him as a vindictive God. But is God really vindictive? Is He really the cause of human suffering? Does He directly cause it? Does He will pain to visit us?
Surely a rational person will not think that way. But can we actually reinvent the wheel? Can we come up with a reasonable explanation about the experience of suffering in the context of God’s existence?
Too many questions, yet too few answers. That is the reality of life. But I believe though we can. God is not cruel nor is he vindictive and punitive. God does not cause our suffering but rather like Harold Kushner writes in “When bad things happen to good people,” God wills us to face our suffering and come out of it a stronger individual. God created the universe with a certain natural order but there are dark places in it that hasn’t yet been touched by his goodness. That is why human suffering continues to exist. God doesn’t like to interfere, precisely because it defeats the purpose of giving us free will. Though the Holocaust, the Kosovo and Rwandan genocides, and just recently the World Trade Center bombings and the Darfur genocide in Sudan were all caused by human beings, I can see God revolted in his chair, saddened and outraged by such human cruelty. Yet he cannot act, by interfering with our freedom, it would mean the death of our being human.
Without freedom, we are the same like all other creatures on this planet, driven by instinct, driven by necessity without regard of his fellow-species.
The question really is why do we allow such crimes against humanity to be committed? Is it not an insult to every self-respecting human or society for that matter that these things continue to happen? Surely, just as recently the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center bombings in New York City shocked the world. The thumbprints on the scene are not of God but of human beings – supposedly exercising their God-given right to choose freely. Why do we always drag God’s name when bad things occur? Isn’t it man’s responsibility to take care of the world including its own? I can only surmise there are truly no fool-proof answers to these questions but it basically stares us in our faces – we can actually do something about it.
On a more personal note, I have my own suffering – all my life I have experienced sorrows, sadness, pain and losses. I have been insulted, teased upon, punched, turned down, thrown out, loss a loved one, gotten terribly sick and endured heartaches. But I continue to live. Why you ask? Because suffering opened my eyes to a whole new world – a world that I wouldn’t appreciate if I never failed or have fallen. These “dark” moments in my life taught me a thing or two. It has allowed me to see the light side of things. Suffering opened my eyes to the possibilities of life and though it opened my eyes to these possibilities, it is still up to me to choose the path I believe is right, and in the process, I find myself and my God. How will I know that I am happy if I’ve never been sad? How will I know to take care of myself if I’ve never gotten sick? How will I understand the cycle of life if I’ve never faced death or seen someone die? These things occur precisely because they give meaning to my life, but that meaning I alone can give. We are often asking questions of why, when the question should rather be what now. What do I do with my suffering? Do I run away or do I face it headstrong and full of hope?
Though it seems unlikely all of life’s pain are meant to teach a lesson – a lot of them are, on the larger scale, somehow those massacres and other heinous crimes encourage us to become vigilant, value life all the more and establish nations based on mutual harmony and interdependence. Suffering is not necessarily a part of life but somehow being “humans” who have not yet grown up – suffering has become a consequence of our ignorance of the world.
Whatever my life leads to, I know I am strong enough to face it because of the pain. All my pain left a scar in my heart and though it hurts, it will force me to remember that life is not necessarily a box full of chocolates (though some may argue it is) but rather an empty box given to me and it is up to me what I like to fill it with. Suffering is an integral part of man’s maturity, without suffering man becomes idle, man might never grow up. It is the stuff life is made of. It is the only way we grow, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I know suffering will always be part of my life, and though that will always be the case it is not a reason to give up hoping. For hope is one of life’s most precious gifts. Hope I define here as the unwavering and continuous struggle against despair, against frustration, against giving up. Hope allows us to glimpse what’s beyond us, just as Saint-Exupery said in the Little Prince “What makes the desert beautiful is that somehow far below its surfaces, it holds a spring of fresh water.” And somehow deep inside us, because of suffering certain things come into existence, we discover ourselves and we begin to soar. Through suffering we find that spring of fresh water inside us, we drink from it. And very often than not it is hope. Hope sparks the human spirit to move on in life.
And only in extreme situations of hopelessness does hope truly bloom. Like a flower blooming and ushering forth the springtime season, hope ushers a renewed thirst in man to seek the truth, to seek his God. God doesn’t like us to suffer, but because we live in a physical world and because of our freedom, we become ignorant that our actions act interdependently of each other. Hopefully, in due time we will find our true paradise, if there is ever one, but until that day comes, I must continue hoping, hoping for a better world not only for me but also for the whole of humanity. Just like the flower I mentioned earlier, we may all in due time bloom like flowers during springtime, with all their majestic colors and fragrances to create a better world – full of life, full of hope – full of happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment