Snails, snakes and scorpions cannot despair; neither can cabbages, camels and centipedes. Only man, with the infinite and the eternal in him, can despair. The greater the expectation, the more keen can be the disappointment. The more there is to hope, the greater is the grief at not realizing it. man alone, of all creatures, has a soul which is capable of knowing the infinite; he alone has aspirations beyond what he sees and touches and feels; he alone can attain everything in the world and still not be satisfied. That is why, when he misses the infinite and the eternal for which he was made and which alone can satisfy, he despairs.

The yearning within man for truth and love and beauty and perfection indicates that something is lacking for the fullness of life. This yearning is related to hope which int its simplest form, is gaze toward the future. A farmer cannot plant seed in the springtime nor the mother press a child to her breast nor the scientist conduct his research without hope. No spade would ever be dug into the earth nor pen put to paper were there not some expectation of good to come from it.

That hope for which we look may be in time or it may be beyond time. If the ultimate and final hope is in this world, despair is inevitable. What peace is there in possessing if death with its "shuffling off the mortal coil" means the breaking of all communication with what we hoped? There is then felt within the heart the radical tug between the infinite craving and the finite satisfaction between the sweet rind and the bitter pulp.

When, however, the desire for perfection and the infinite is placed beyond this life, there is no occasion for despair.

Those who are familiar with the thinking of the world for the last two centuries will recall how the world has swung from an unbounded optimism in human affairs to a despair which today engages and demands the attention of psychiatrists. Optimism today is at a discount. Men clamour less for happiness than they do for security. All the philosophers of the past argued to the existence of God and the moral law, from man's innate craving for happiness; today, man's deepest yearning is for some economic security.

This change in outlook may be likened to different attitudes of sea voyagers. In former days, man's first concern on taking a sea voyage was a port and a comfortable cabin; today, the first thing the traveller does is to look for a life-belt. Many today are very uncertain as to whether or not there is a destiny to the voyage of life; in fact, they would rather not dwell upon the problem, for they know it makes ethical demands upon them which they are unprepared to make.

The age that expects a future life and the perfection of happiness beyond this life has a calm and peace which the turn of events cannot disturb. But when a man loses hope and has no God to whom he can turn, then he must be in a hurry to get something out of life. The believer can wait; the pagan must hurry. The gate threatens to close; then all is over. Hence, the impatient scramble and scuffle to acquire as much as possible before the sun sets.

Communism is the logic of despair. When the ultimate hope of personality is denied, then there are no longer any limits to crass earthliness which unleashes itself with boundless ferocity. The rapidly of wars, the almost incessant revolutions which disturb our modern world are born of that frantic despair to salvage something before the world is taken away.

Those who have hope are like a boy with a kite. The kite may conceivably be so high in the clouds that it cannot be seen; but he who holds the string feels the tug of it. Once our hope is in God, we feel the pull and tug of it on earth. But as the heir must believe in his title to the inheritance before he can hope in it, so there must be faith in things beyond before we can hope. With such a strong basis for hope, despair fades away.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 - 1979 )

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -