People of Faith

Forget Closure

“The theological virtue of hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without closure, without resolution, and still be content and even happy because our Satisfaction is now at another level, and our Source is beyond ourselves.”

Richard Rohr

T.S. Eliot said that humans live their lives based on “hints and guesses.” Indeed, we do not know what awaits us tomorrow, much less next year, or even next month. Closure is often not achievable. Fr. Richard Rohr writes in his article “Utterly Humbled by Mystery,” for On Being: “We love closure, resolution and clarity while thinking that we are people of 'faith'. How strange that the very word 'faith' has come to meant it's exact opposite.” It's not faith if we then follow our hopes by choosing an outcome.

There is so much about life for which clear answers are not available. We have to wait and see what will happen. There are, of course, times that we can push, and demand, and get what we want, but there is no guarantee that the outcome of doing so will be exactly as we expected. Human beings are nothing if not changeable, unpredictable and sometimes unreliable. Being people of faith means that we have to live without assurances that our desired outcome will be realized. And, when it isn't realized, being okay with that.

That's truly difficult, isn't it? We like to think of ourselves as the masters of our fate. Being “in control” is a constant goal—at least it is for me. But, honestly, you know and I know that we are in control of very little. Possibly, what we will eat for lunch, but that's about it. Having hope is not about preordained results. It is about trusting the Source to provide what is needed—even if what we receive is not what we wanted. We must live in limbo, and be content. Hard stuff, this business of faith.

                                                                In the Spirit,

                                                                    Jane