It’s a new year – I haven’t made resolutions, but I do have hopes for the days ahead; how about you?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #186 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
Hope springs eternal, so they say.
“Hope springs eternal" is an idiomatic expression that conveys the idea that humans inherently possess an enduring sense of hope, no matter the difficulties they face.
It expresses the notion that people retain hope and optimism, even in discouraging circumstances. The phrase…comes from Alexander Pope's poem ‘An Essay on Man’ from the 18th century. The full line reads, ‘Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.’ This poetic line emphasizes the unwavering spirit of optimism in humans.”
>At the end of the magnificent movie about the Civil War era, “Gone with the Wind,” after years of tragic destruction, despair, and death, central character Scarlett O’Hara said, “Tara. Home. I'll go home…After all, tomorrow is another day."
>In the Broadway musical, “Annie,” Orphan Annie sang, “The sun will come out Tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There'll be sun! Just thinking about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs, And the sorrow 'Til there's none! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow! You're always a day away”
>In the movie “Cast Away,” Tom Hanks-as-Chuck Noland wraps the film by saying, “And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
>In Scripture, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
I recently shared in this podcast about what scholars are calling the “Anxious Generation,” an entire cohort of American youth who are growing up filled with anxiety and despair, not so much because they do not have material goods and well-being but because they have no sense of purpose or meaning.
Some scholars blame the hours adolescents spend on smartphones, detached in another world and this without friends, without social integration. Some blame this era’s rejection of the “God who is there,” the Sovereign Creator of the Universe who not only made each of us but who gave us a desire for purpose and meaning, then told us he is the foundation and center of this purpose and meaning. Reject him and you end up with no hope, just delusional, psychotic anarchy.
Scripture gives us another view of the future: Jeremiah says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lamentations 3:21-24).
The Shepherd-King David in the Old Testament, reminded us, “But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:18).
In the New Testament book of Hebrews, we’re instructed, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” (Jn. 16:33).
“Christian hope gives believers the resilience and strength to overcome the misery in the world, the Devil’s distractions, and the hardships of life in the body.”
“What is a Christian hope? It does not simply dream of a better existence or dwell in the clouds. It’s not only a fantasy of who or what people would like to be. Due to God’s presence and the concept of life, death, and Christ’s resurrection, this Christian hope is also a source of power for living independently, rather than according to the principles of a society built on greed and competitiveness.”
So, I have hope for the future based upon who God is and what he has promised. I am, or try to be, an “optimistic realist,” optimistic in the sense that I operate with that Christian hope, but a realist because Scripture has taught me about the depravity of mankind and the presence of sin.
I look forward to year 2025 with certain hopes.
- I hope the work of the Sovereign God will be acknowledged in public and private life. This is the beginning of wisdom, the Scripture says, and nothing is needed more in the West than a recognition that God is the great “I Am.”
- I hope the existence of absolute or objective truth is once again acknowledged in public and private life. There is a spiritual application for this hope, of course, but here I refer mostly to the vital necessity for this acknowledgement because of its far-reaching practical effect upon education, law enforcement or criminal justice, science and healthcare. Without this, America will continue to drift in confusion, chaos, and distrust.
- I hope illegal immigrants can be identified and deported with no violence, minimal expense, and quick disposition. I’m not anti-immigrant, just anti- illegal, unvetted, entitlement-minded, unassimilated foreign actors coming to assault American society. The migrants President Biden welcomed to America are decidedly not, for the most part, the “tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” of Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” poem printed on a bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.No, the Biden illegal immigrants are the product of misplaced philosophic multiculturalism and political Machiavellianism.
- I hope for a restoration of legitimate American patriotism. I do not mean triumphalism or imperialism or rabid nationalism. I mean a genuine love for and appreciation of America’s heritage, yes, warts and all. I think this is already beginning to happen if the expressions of football fans in crowded stadiums over the holidays is any indication. Such patriotism is a gift. It brings unity, reinforcement of the best ideals upon which the country was founded, which allowed it to flourish for a time, and which can empower the country to flourish again going forward.
- I hope for a realistic attitude toward the temptations and dangers of debt. The National Debt is 36.3 trillion and rising as I write. “Americans owe an average of $17.8 trillion in consumer debt.” We can whistle past the graveyard all we want but this is simply unsustainable. Debt is a time bomb; and like gambling, it usually comes in a pretty package, but eventually its negative impact goes off. The shine will not last long in our shining city on the hill if the shine is built on debt. Americans, especially politicians, have become profligate, meaning we are given to or characterized by licentiousness or dissipation, reckless waste or wildly extravagant. Kicking the debt can down the road only pushes this problem off on our children and grandchildren, or it risks economic collapse in the here and now.
- I hope for economic growth and prosperity based not upon greed, gouging, and materialism but upon problem solving, creativity, work ethic, deferred gratification, and risk based upon a hope for a better tomorrow. This kind of economic growth really does have a trickle-down effect, blessing all kinds of people, whether they helped create or own part of a given product or service or not.
- I hope the American people are finally awakening to the serious culture-wrecking dangers inherent in so-called “social justice” ideas that have been called Woke or political correctness or critical theory, which argue society can be explained by the Have vs Have Nots, Oppressed or Victims vs Oppressors. This set of ideas has taken over education, law, government and military, some commerce, some religion, even influenced sports and entertainment. But the concepts are rooted in Marxist ideas about division, chaos, equity as opposed to equality, class and race warfare, sexual libertinism, the view facts are simply someone’s bias, i.e., there’s no truth. What America needs is common sense based upon reality as God created it, not human irrationality. American society has been deeply damaged by these ideas, and we must work and pray they are jettisoned forever.
Scripture says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
I hope you enjoy a wonderful, blessed new year.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2025
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