Editorial January 6, 2003 Issue

New hope in the new year

Editor

Some might say, as they think about the dawning new year, "There's just no point in holding out hope for our world." They point to entrenched problems—war in countries that have been fighting for decades or for centuries, poverty, loneliness, incurable disease, political oppression. And, they ask, "Is there ever going to be a time when the world will be free of these scourges? What's the point of keeping a flicker of hope alive when these problems seem so intractable?"

Sometimes it isn't just the mega-problems of the world that seem beyond resolving. Everyday obstacles can haunt people, telling them things aren't going to get better—their finances, lack of education, over-priced housing, health, relationships.

As Christians, however, we are required to hope. For hope is fundamental to faith, to trust, and to obedience to God. The First Epistle of John, in the Bible, includes this promise: "Here and now, dear friends, we are God's children; what we shall be has not yet been disclosed, but we know that when it is disclosed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope before him purifies himself, as Christ is pure" (3:2, 3).

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