On Hope and the impossible
“Sans l’espérance, vous ne rencontrerez jamais l’inespéré.” -Héraclite d’Éphèse
Rough translation: “Without hope, you will never meet the impossible (OR what it not hoped for).”
How quote is actually translated in English: “If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus
I took the above quote from a French book I read a while ago, called “L’intégrale des entretiens NOMS DE DIEU d’Edmond Blattchen”, avec Colette Nys-Mazure: “Les ombres et les jours.”
Translation again: “The complete interviews NAMES OF GOD of Edmond Blattchen”, with Colette Nys-Mazure: “Shadows and Days.”
In short, this small booklet is an interview with the Belgian poet and writer Colette Nys-Mazure, who discusses her writings and the deep faith that permeates them; or, should I say, the deep hope, because that seems to be the central theme of her works. Despite losing both her parents at a very young age, she said she never gave into despair; in fact, her hope seems stronger because of the loss. What is her secret?
She tells Mr. Blattchen: (I paraphrase)
“From the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, “Hoping against all hope”. This is what the quote (above) is all about.”
“Hope is a prerequisite for finding the impossible. Hope is what makes you move towards it; otherwise, it won’t happen.”
“The impossible is both what we never thought or dreamed of, but it is also what will rise from the ruins, when we thought that everything was finished. Well no! Life begins again, and you meet the impossible. There is something full of fervour, something very convincing about this assertion.”
“Often, I walk in the dark, but I know the light will come back. As a child, I loved crossing tunnels in trains. You always end up coming out of the tunnel…”
Today is the feast day of St. Joseph (one of my favourite men and saints ever, which is why I posted the picture above, which captures the intimacy of the father-son relationship of Joseph and Jesus), and in today’s Scriptures we read the same passage that Mrs. Nys-Mazure referred to:
“[Abraham]—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’” (Rom. 4: 17-18)
Joseph trusted God so much that he acted on his dreams, no matter how impossible they seemed. God was the source of his Hope. Joseph was a humble man, but what astounds me more is his perfect hope in God. He knew he could hope in himself, in his ability as a carpenter, in his goodness to discretely dismiss Mary, in trusting and acting on the reality he saw… but instead he hoped in God, Whom he knew could “call into existence the things that do not exist”…like believing that the baby was Most Holy…like making him the father of the Father’s Son… like taking Mary as his wife…and acting on a reality he couldn’t see… His hope led him to believe God, even when it all seemed (and if you think about it, still sounds) impossible.
I would add to Mrs. Nys-Mazure’s words that hope becomes necessary, and grows, when things don’t go our way. Hope propels us to the impossible, making us beg for nothing short of the immensity and perfect fulfillment of God. We are simply not happy without the impossible…because that’s what we were made for!
What about us? Do we hope against hope? In our life, do we truly believe that God wants to give us…the impossible?!?
What is it that seems impossible for you? An “impossible” situation may mean something we want to fix but can’t, something that isn’t happening, something that we can’t stop from happening, dilemmas where answers just don’t come easily, … Believe it today, that the Lord will fulfill it for you in the most wonderful way! And I know that we won’t have to wait for heaven to see a part of it… The promise begins here… He will answer ALL our impossible hopes!
