Zimbabwe would be free in 1977. I was wrong by three years. But the hope – or perhaps the certainty – that it would happen soon encouraged those of my generation.
In the church’s year Advent is upon us and it speaks of liberation around the corner; just a little while now. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live without hope. The death penalty may be virtually abolished but there are people in prison ‘for life’ with little hope of being set free.
There are countries, like Tibet and Palestine, whose hopes of freedom are so far in the future it is hard to picture them. And there are people who live their lives without any belief that there is a life to come; they live for the present; that is all. If they think of the future it is so that their children and future generations can also live for the present.
But whether we believe we will be part of the future or not we can all share the hope of a better world. For the Christian that means ‘laying our hand to the plough’ here and now and building a new society which reflects deep respect for each person and compassion for those who are suffering. For the one who is not a believer it probably means the same.
He or she will share this desire to build, but they will not see our building as the foundations of an eternal society that will reach its perfection one day. The signs of this future society are all around us. The longing and yearning for justice and freedom, for acceptance and peace are visible everywhere.
Advent is a time for becoming ‘fired up’ with this longing. We have this fierce promise in Jesus’ words, ‘hold your head high, your liberation is near at hand.’ We might get cynical and say, ‘well, it is a long time in coming. We have been waiting for 2000 years.’ True, and many people have become impatient and tried to force the pace with prophecies that, ‘the end is nigh.’ It almost certainly isn’t.
John XXIII said on the eve of the Vatican Council in 1962, ‘present indications are that the human family is on the threshold of a new era. We must recognise there the hand of God, who, as the years role by, is ever directing men’s efforts, whether they realise it or not, towards the fulfilment of his inscrutable designs.’ For such a big project we need time and patience. But we also need a sense of urgency and hope.
Post published in: Faith