The title of this talk is taken from that passage in the Bible which says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
In our two trips in the last four years we have seen much that is disquieting and that has made us wonder how men could be so cruel to other men and how governments could go on building power that would seem to have no termination except in destruction. It is easy enough to be pessimistic and disheartened and to feel that the substance of things hoped for leaves little room for faith, and that if you have any faith, it surely must rest in the things unseen, for it would seem that the ocean of darkness and death all but overwhelms the ocean of light and love.
The Substance and Evidence of Hope
Some of you have heard me say that years ago when I went to college my father and I had a talk which I have never forgotten. We had been discussing the struggles you might encounter going off on your own for the first time, and at the end of the conversation he looked at me with great tenderness and said, “Brookman, you will always find what you are looking for.” He was thinking especially of people and groups and organizations. In the years that have followed I have learned that there is a great deal of truth in what he said.
Much of what you see does depend upon what you are looking for. But does that make it an illusion? My daughter has expressed the danger of refusing to admit the darkness and hopelessness if you are intent on seeing the things which make for hope. But in a world like ours, with journalists and politicians and men of affairs shouting gloom from every newspaper and broadcasting company or giving us words which send us first up and then down in our moods or elation or anguish, it is important that we not lose sight of the substance and evidence of hope. One’s faith helps one to see this hope, but seeing the substance of things hoped for also increases faith. It works both ways.
Part 1
