We can turn our personal hope into optimism

The light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is clear, John Van Sloten writes.

If ever there was a Christmas defined by hope, this is it.

With the advent of highly effective vaccines, developed in record time, and with mass inoculations now underway, the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel is beginning to shine bright.

As the prophet Isaiah eloquently foretold, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)

These lights give us some real hope.

Hope is most fully itself in times of darkness and doubt. In hard places it enables expectation, inspires confidence, grows patience, and gives us the strength to endure. It helps us see past our present struggles and opens our eyes to a one-day possible future.

Hope gives us faith that life will return to normal. No — better than that — that life will return to a “new and better normal”; where the gift of the ordinary is never overlooked again, and relationships are rightly cherished and embraced. Where the life-sustaining gifts of work and a healthy economy are daily received with humble gratitude, and where societal health is never taken for granted again.

We had no idea how good life was … until the pandemic threatened it.

And now we're hoping for life renewed. Hoping we can get there without too much more loss. Hoping our psyches and health-care systems can hang on. Hoping we won't forget all of the profound lessons we are learning. Hoping we can live a better life going forward … and make a better world.

Would that be too much to hope for? That this unprecedented moment of shared global hope might usher in a new global reality — a more humble, unified, and compassionate way of being human together?

As a person of faith, I believe this is what hope is ultimately meant for.

Christmas hope is more than mere positive thinking or naive optimism. It's about the confident expectation that comes when a saving God makes the scene and makes a promise.

A confidence echoed by virtual choirs around the world as they sing these familiar words from Handel's Messiah: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:5)

For Christians, this season is all about a hope for a one-day perfect global peace. Perhaps this greater hope can be an inspiration for us all (regardless of our faith or non-faith traditions).

What if, this Christmas, we let the hope that we're all feeling in relation to a vaccine reach out even further … beyond our own well-being?

Even as we'll soon be able to hold our loved ones again, imagine our capacity to love reaching further — to all of the last, lost and least in this world.

Even as we come to re-enjoy all of the freedoms and benefits of being able to work and support our families, imagine ensuring that everyone has meaningful work and can know the dignity of making their own way.

Even as we rediscover our sense of inner peace, imagine reaching out as a peacemaker to all of the unsettled and anxious souls we encounter in our lives. Can you imagine how our world could change if each of us let our hope be this big?

Surely, this is what Christmas is really all about — about a God who would come to help, a God who would humble himself to fix the relationship, a God who is most himself when selflessly giving his life for the sake of others.

Even if you don't believe in God, wouldn't this be a great way to live — investing the hope you're feeling right now into an even greater hope?

John Van Sloten is a pastor at Marda Loop Church.