Karl Marx once said that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” Religion, he said, was simply escapism…the effort of unhappy souls with the inability to connect meaningfully with the world to avoid the pain and loneliness. I’m wondering tonight if what he said was true…

I’m definitely a philosophical guy. I’d rather sit around talking about abstract ideas and concepts than talk about how to do something. My life is driven by a philosophy… indeed, everyone’s is. A lot of people are blind to the philosophy that drives their life. I’m wondering if my entire life has been driven by escapism. I’m wondering if that’s what drove me to go to a Bible college. I’m wondering if that is what causes me to confine myself to comfortable circles of people. I’m wondering if that’s what’s preventing me from creating incredilbe stories to tell.

But underneath all that wondering, and those occasional bouts of escapism, there is hope. Like a spiritual duracell shooting power through me, hope keeps me going. I see a desired future, a desired outcome, a desired me, a desired truth, and the hope within me is so strong that there is no way I can quit. Hope for what?

Hope that I am being renewed every day.
Hope that I will become who I know in my heart I was created to be.
Hope that I will do something great that changes the world in a significant way.
Hope that God is real, and that the picture of him that is painted in the bible is true.
Hope that I will one day see Jesus, face to face, and he will look into my face with a look of deep respect and admiration and say “well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”
Hope that I will one day be given a new body.
Hope that our world will be transformed into one with no sickness, no death, no gossip, no loneliness or fear, no unhealthy addictions.
Hope that I will someday not be self-absorbed and cynical.

Oh God…make this hope a reality. Help me to see what you see. Open my eyes.