Hope: Striving for Heaven

Fixing Our Eyes on Heaven

Recently we’ve meditated on the theological virtues of charity and faith, today hope. As we have discussed, faith reveals to us God’s supernatural plan for our lives. With faith we know that the ultimate purpose of each human person lies in the transforming union with God in this life and its fulfillment in Heaven. Once we have this knowledge, it’s time to begin working towards that objective. That’s where the theological virtue of hope enters the picture. Hope is the virtue whereby the individual strives for union with God and Heaven as something which is possible, but not yet guaranteed.

There are, then, three conditions needed for the virtue of hope: firstly, an active pursuit of God and Heaven; secondly, a realization that holiness, becoming a saint and the attainment of Heaven is possible, (after all, if it wasn’t possible, why would anyone even try?); thirdly, a realization that failing to attain holiness and Heaven is also possible, (after all, if getting to Heaven was guaranteed, why would you need to work at getting there?). 

Changing the World

Tragically, it’s common to hear this striving for Holiness and Heaven as something which is merely a distraction from the responsibilities of this life of making a difference on earth.  For example, Marx, the founder of atheistic Communism once famously said that “religion is the drug of the people,” and more recently, Carl Sagan stated, “Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.”  I guess people think that ideas about the next life are simple forms of escapism or wishful thinking that keeps us from doing any good in this world.

Yet actually the contrary is true. Those with their eyes fixed on Heaven are the ones who do the most good for earthly society. C.S. Lewis articulates this very clearly: "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.”[1]  Mother Teresa did more for the poor than anyone and she spent at least four hours in prayer every day.

The fact is that those who are only interested in conditions down here lack the power to actually affect conditions down here. Hope, the pursuit of God, Heaven, and holiness, is what charges us on towards the perfection of temporal matters. So do you really want to make a difference?  Do you really want to change the world? Then start by making sure you’re putting God and your supernatural destiny first. 

Longing for Heaven

A critical part of hope is the desire for Heaven. The weird thing is that even though many of us know we should pursue the supernatural good, we don’t really want to. Union with God has somehow grown unattractive to a great many people. Heaven’s lost its appeal. Why is this, and what can we do to foster a longing for the happiness of the next life?

Well, one of the key reasons we lack a healthy attraction to God and Heaven is that our imagination has gotten very weak when it comes to Heaven. When we think of Heaven, we think of a white room, or a big choir that sings “alleluia” all day long, or a bunch of people playing harps and sitting on clouds. Obviously those images of Heaven aren’t going to thrill us; they’re not going to make us excited about the next life. We’ve lost sight of the glory, the joy, the total and perfect happiness that awaits us when we finally come home to God.

Also, many of us secretly harbor the illusion that by choosing God, we’re going to have to give up the good things of this life forever. We imagine we’ll miss the things of earth once we’re in Heaven. This notion expresses itself in certain phrases like, “Well, you only live once, might as well enjoy it while you can.”

In order to battle this mentality, we have to repeatedly remind ourselves of the truth that if we attain God, we will also attain all the goodness of this world. In Heaven, we won’t feel as though we’ve had to sacrifice certain goods, since they’ll all be present in Heaven but to a much greater extent. This is why Our Lord declared, “Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more” (Matthew 19:29).

So we’ve got to retrain our imaginations, we’ve got to ask ourselves “What gives me the greatest pleasure in life? What do I enjoy most?” and then realize that heaven will include that pleasure and enjoyment, only it will be far greater, and forever. That kind of meditation on the beauty and ecstasy of Heaven will hopefully enkindle our longing for the supernatural good, and will increase our depth of hope.

Hope, Youthfulness and Optimism

          Hope is usually associated with youth; when people are young, they have their whole lives ahead of them, and there’s great potential for wonderful things to happen. The proper outlook of youthfulness is a gazing ahead to the good things which are in store, to the life which hasn’t really begun yet.  And this is precisely the outlook of hope: hope gazes ahead to the good things which are in store for those who are faithful to God and His Church; hope looks forward to the life that hasn’t really begun yet. So you want to know the secret to eternal youth? It’s hope. People who hope always retain the distinctive joy of being young.

          A lot of people though, including young people, are really cynical. It seems they think they’re being mature by adopting a stance of disillusionment or pessimism. “Grow up,” they say, “Life’s tough, then you die, and that’s it. We don’t pretend any more; we openly admit that life is ugly and meaningless. And the sooner you can accept the harsh facts of life, the better things will be.  Just try to have some good times and don’t expect too much.” 

          One can see this position embodied in a great deal of modern art, music, and literature.  Music is dissonant and random, paintings are bleak and senseless, and the plots in stories lack direction and resolution. Cynicism is cowardly and juvenile. It’s an empty cliché. Chesterton pointed out that any hack poet can write a pretty decent portrait of hell, but there are only a handful of great poets who’ve been able to write a decent portrait of heaven. That’s because hopelessness is trite, and hope is profound. It’s ludicrous, for a Christian especially, to be morbid or dejected after having seen the beauty of God’s world and knowing about the even greater beauty of God’s heaven. The follower of Jesus responds to life with hope, with optimistic vitality, with enthusiasm. That’s the only mature way to live.

The Goodness of Life

But we are all becoming cynics and falling into anger, agitation and anxiety because we have become addicted to the news and news commentary. Stop this, spend more time meditating on all that God and the saints have to say about the goodness of this life and the greatness of the next life and you will become hope filled, vibrant and a powerful agent of change.

[1] Mere Christianity, San Francisco: Harper Collins, 134.