Faith, Hope and Charity

Faith, Hope and Charity

An Essay
By Izzy Sommers
In Welland, Canada
For November, 2005

The triad of Faith, Hope and Charity, reflects Christianity as much as “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, INRI, IHS, Alpha and Omega, Chi Rho, Ichthys, and Love Thy Neighbour As Thyself.” Recently, I have been saddened by some of my contacts with Christians, prominent Christians in my community, who are shaky about their faith, pessimistic about hope for the future, and much less than charitable in their expressions and behaviour. I hesitate to preach from my position outside any established flock or congregation, but I’m prompted to speak up about something that I’m sure is noticeable by many people. On TV and on radio, in newspapers and in magazines, and in my community and in other communities, religious and political leaders express lack of Hope, Charity and Faith. They put forth doubts about our basic beliefs. They predict pessimistic, even apocalyptic and doomsday, scenarios for Humanity. Moreover, frequently and fervently, they promote individual and mass killing of people and encourage other atrocities on whole populations, even entire nations. They seem to have murder and venom in their hearts and minds.

Examples that come to mind are Pat Robertson’s recent comments on President Chavez of Venezuela and the town of Dover, Pennsylvania, and Billy Graham’s son’s comments on the disasters that befell New Orleans and their residents because of Katrina. Locally, the discussions to which I’ve been privy on the indigent, hungry, needy people of my community, or the debating in which I’ve participated regarding Karla Homolka, have featured many, often passionately vehement, faithless, hopeless and uncharitable comments.

Considering that the monotheism of Jews, Christians and Moslems have a single origin, the frequent animosities and hostile behaviours amongst them is staggering and unreasonable. In Genesis, Abraham beseeches God to save the people of Sodom, even if only 10 faithful citizens can be found. God agrees after some crafty debating by Abraham. Unfortunately God couldn’t find 10 people who followed His Laws. Earlier, God destroyed the entire world of people with The Flood, finding only Noah and his family, eight people, altogether, worthy of saving. Later, in the Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus summarizes God’s Laws into 2 statements: Love God and Love Thy Neighbour. On the cross, He beseeches God to forgive everyone, an act of Faith, Hope and Charity of immense proportions, for the ages. Billy Graham, amongst others, behaved as Jesus’ Disciple. In the Arab world, Mohammed and the great Lebanese poet, Gibron, were gentle and loving. Ghandi, the epitome of Pacifism for India and the world, emphasized his ideas for Faith, Hope and Charity by fasting for long periods of time, turning the other cheek and lauding the meek.

Where are the charitable, faithful and hopeful leaders on both sides of all the war fronts of the world? Shouldn’t the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Pakistan and Cechan, Ethiopia and Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, Quebec and Ontario be settled easily by the Billy Graham’s, the Mehatma Ghandi’s, the Adlai Stevenson’s, the Jean Charest’s and the Anwar Sadat’s of the world? Do Buddha, Confucius, Noah and his Ark full of innocent people and animals, St. John the Baptist, and King Xerxes of Persia, need to make dramatic re-appearances? Haven’t we sacrificed enough innocents to have learned by our histories?

Too many questions... Too few answers...

The chances are that Earth has been around for billions of years and that Mankind has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, more or less. The chances are that Mankind, as it has in the past, will survive floods, fire, earthquakes, winds and extraterrestrial hits, for billions of years, to come. The possibility that Mankind will deliberately destroy itself seems more likely today, than ever. My own lifetime is relatively short, but like Abraham and many others before me, many others around me, and many others after me, I care for my fellow man. Faith, Hope and Charity may, in fact, be hereditary as well as environmental. I wish that the leaders who have forsaken Faith, Hope and Charity stay home and cultivate enjoyment in their own families. I wish that they leave the rest of us peons alone, accept Divine Forgiveness, accept our forgiveness, and allow Peace on Earth.

THE END

(C) Izzy Sommers

Welland, Canada

November, 2005