More on "New Spirituality: life against death" in The Source of Life by Jurgen Moltmann. What do we hope for? It is true that the experience of the life-giving Spirit of god does rouse us to dissatisfaction with disturbed and false life which has missed its mark, and awakens an ardent longing for the true life. But this hope is not turned toward a world beyond this one, or towards heaven, in a flight from the world in which we live. Our hope is addicted to the future, and it looks for the coming of God's kingdom 'on earth as it is in heaven'. What an interesting way to look at hope - our hope is addicted to the future. It certainly grabbed my attention - like apocalyptic writing. It grabs but it is not exactly the fullness of the concept. Hope is not addicted to the future. Hope is more than the future. We tend to have ways of attempting to control the future and therefore we might just be addicted to our own vision. Addiction is never a good word in my book - it means something is out of control or one is possessed by something other than life itself. I would expect that Moltmann is using such an image to make sure we know that hope within the Reign of God is a complete gift that grabs us and will not let us go - no matter how hard we try. This hope is grounded here - now - in the moment and in the moments to come. Nothing is to be saved for latter. I guess the addiction image is good in this respect. For someone suffering from addiction, there is no later and there is no waiting until we go over there - it is all about now. Hope therefore, is about now. How is the now of our lives made full of this Spirit of life that is all about the Reign of God wholly present? Connection: It is not all that easy to become fully engaged in the 'now' with our whole life. It is here and now that the witness of the Reign of God takes place. It is now that martyrs come to life and show us the way into the fullness of the living Reign of God. Carry us into your life, O God. Surround us with the power of your Spirit so that we will be moved to be awakened to your power. Amen. |
No comments:
Post a Comment