Article December 15, 2003 Issue

A God-based outlook leaves no void

By Susie Rynerson

I've Been Wondering , What is there to hope for? Between constant e-mail updates about distressing breaking news, an uncertain global economy, and the demands on our personal lives, I sometimes temporarily lose the levity and joy that are natural to me.

Pausing and searching for the spiritual assurance that the economy can be stable, or that we really can make progress toward world peace, sets me on my way again. But I also ask myself: Is all this hoping simply naive? How can I justify being hopeful about anything these days? And what should we do when hope seems elusive—or if we don't feel like trying to be hopeful?

When these questions pop up, I typically go to books in which I've found trustworthy answers before—the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This time, I turn to my computer and do an electronic search in those books for hope and derivatives such as hopeful, hopes, and so on.