Which
came first—a text affirming eternal life or the intimations of it?
Many religions affirm eternal life in one way or another, so I take
this as rather clear indication that it is common for mankind to
actually feel intimations of it—for if man’s experience did not
jive with his religion, in the end religion would give way to
experience. In other words, say someone writes that God is Hate and
backs it up from quoting scripture verses here and there indicating a
cruel and hateful God; would I change my belief that God is Love?—Not
a bit, for my experience over time is that God is Love. Another way
of seeing this is to envision a graph of my experience. Inevitably
there will periods of doubt and dismay, but the trend line is
unmistakably clear—my faith continues to have solid growth.
Therefore it is always dangerous to extrapolate from a blip of
transient pessimism.
I
especially appreciated today's reading in Jimmy Carter’s Through
the Year with Jimmy Carter (page 356). In it he describes the
endurance of Jim Stockdale while a captive in Vietnam. Some
prisoners survived, others did not. “[Those] men would build up
expectations for a prompt release—before Christmas or before Easter
or before some other date—and every time those days came and went
without bringing freedom, they despaired. The dreary cycle made them
increasing despondent until finally they gave up and died.
Jim
considered this imprisonment to be long-term and yet retained
undeviating confidence in himself, his nation, and his faith. He
avoided repeated heartbreak.” He avoided, in other words,
“transient optimism”.
I
think most of us appreciate the necessity of a long-term perspective
for survival and eventual victory, and we find it deeply reassuring
when we find it in ourselves or others.
Print Page
