Paul identified faith, hope, and love as the primary theological virtues. I think it no coincidence that these are also among the words most trivialized in common discourse. Faith becomes, not trust in the divine, but thinking the right thoughts or saying the right words. Love becomes, not a self-emptying act of will, but a mere movement of the affections. And hope becomes mere probability. “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.”

But the philosopher Jacques Ellul describes hope as “the passion for the impossible.” If there is a way to accomplish a desired outcome, whether it be political or technological, there is no room for hope in the theological sense–it is a mere matter of technique. It is when we cannot see the way, when the door slams shut in our face, or when there seems to be no door at all but merely a brick wall, that hope thrives.

Not, then, by action do we hope, but in waiting. And not in passive waiting, not in despair, but in active waiting, passionate waiting, even violent waiting. This is, I think, what Jesus meant when he said “”The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently.”

But in any case, let us not trust in human technique and human hope. Wait instead in power and passion for the inbreaking power of the divine, and Way will open.

Based on a message delivered in ministry, Fifth First Day, Ninth Month, 2007.