Sentinel Watch August 6, 2012 Issue

Hope in the face of despair

Anthony Whitehouse—Coppet, Switzerland

Jean Whitehouse

Good times and bad times are patterns that repeat themselves ad infinitum in the fabric of human existence. When all is fair and sunny, we take life as it comes, but when the clouds gather and the storms are closing in, it makes sense to have a spiritual structure to which we can resort until the storm is over.

At this time, in many parts of the world, people are facing impending economic chaos. The stability of the single currency in Europe is threatened, and a lack of political consensus seems to stop other countries moving forward. You can almost hear people sighing for the good old days even though those days might not have been that much better. 

The moral of the story is that human conditions, being changeable, don’t always point us toward a reliable hope. My study of Christian Science, however, has given me two insights that have helped me dissolve the fear of impending doom and gloom that seeks to stifle hope.