WINDOW ON THE CHURCHES

Taupo Times, Volume 19, Issue 98, 17 December 1970, Page 6

WINDOW ON THE CHURCHES

The conscious creature, man, dreams of a better future, of the time when his wishes can be fulfilled or he even imagines that they have been fulfilled. He dreams of this, as the saying goes, "night and day". And he certainly does not dream such dreams at night only. His day-dreams, his longings do not cease; they constantly take on new forms. Man elaborates his desires. Perhaps it would be more comfortable to forget these constant desires. But man cannot imagine himself without desires. His being is one that struggles forward into what is not yet. Even as a child he feeds on dreams. He lives in a world of fairy tales Basically they are an attempt to get into another world. A little older the child reaches out for everything to fill the emptiness within him, and throws away everything again; he is restless, curious, and does not know why. He wants to be where things are "more alive". He wants to be an engine driver, a policeman . . . these look like proper jobs. A young man will often leave home for the same reason; he is searching for a finer life than perhaps his father is leading. As man grows older, he sets his sights lower, he is better informed. But this does not mean that he accepts life as it turned out. The desire does not grow any less with time. Just as at first, something is still lacking. His day-dreams go on. Consider the constant urge for "a change", be it for a new house, a different job, new clothes, be it a desire to get away from everyday experience, to experience something new and unique, to see new places. Is this why man travels so much? One can see hope manifested in the simplest everyday and even most trivial things: the bargain people hope for at annual saies, the allusions they build up about what they are going to get, the craze for betting and the hope to strike a fortune, the reading of novels, thrillers, horror stories, the satisfaction from films with a happy ending. What makes a student persevere at his studies? What keeps a man going at a hard and monotonous job? Now, if one finds a characteristic aspect of human existence even in the very simplest circumstances, it is certain that it will be present in every sphere of human existence. There is, in fact, in man an undestructable urge to achieve a happy ending. This is not limited to the gullible masses. The "hope of a better future" is an inseparable part of the human search for happiness, which is obviously the driving force of all genuinely human activities. If we had space in this column, we could observe this in the artists, the poets, painters, composers of music, in the doctors and architects, the great technologist, the prophets of social justice and lastly the philosophers, the most presumptious dreamers on earth. In the most various ideas and systems of thought philosophers have always expressed a hope which is present in all of us, the hope of ultimate liberation from the power of evil, the hope of freedom, of assurance, of ultimate fulfilment, the hope of a world in which perfection will become our second nature. "Our goal is that society in which desire does not precede its object and the fulfilment is not less than what is desired." wrote the restless scholastic Abelard. We conclude: expectation and hope are basic features of human reality. We cannot say that we "are", we are "always becoming" what we are not yet. Without hope man is not bold enough to take the next step forward. The more intensely someone hopes, the more he is a human being. But if someone has no hope then the humanity in him has become hopeless, that is, petty and confused. At Christmas we commemorate the birth of one to whom was given the title, "the desire of the everlasting hills," which means, "the desire of creation". This carpenter from Nazareth proclaimed in so many words. "Ultimately, you have all dreamt of me."