When peace feels absent, hope is still a verb
- kirranicolle
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Today marks International Day of Peace, which this year feels more like a reminder of how much turmoil the world is facing. The United Nations describes it as a time of “turbulence, tumult and uncertainty” in which it is “critical for everyone to take concrete action to mobilise for peace”. As believers, we know that striving for peace is one of our God-given mandates and a solemn duty. This Viewpoint from LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LYN EDGE, which is the second in a two-part series on hope, reminds us of what should spur us on to keep seeking peace and working for justice amid increasing polarisation and polycrisis. It’s not empty ritual; it’s hope itself.
This year, I am keeping a gratitude journal, intentionally reflecting each day on something I am thankful for. Yet, as I write, the news plays in the background, reporting wars, racism and poverty. This is the tension of the world we live in, where hope and despair exist side by side. Fires rage, communities fracture, and uncertainty presses in.
And yet, at the same time, neighbours help one another, scientists make breakthroughs, and small acts of courage ripple through the world.
Hope persists amid the pain, but recent research called The Global Hope Project, published by Tearfund, shows that it is a diminishing resource.
In 2024, almost one in four Australians described themselves as “hopeful” or “very hopeful” about the future of the world. Fast forward just one year, and that number has dropped to less than one in five. Even more sobering, 16 per cent now say they feel “no hope at all”.
Why is hope drying up?
One explanation is that we are living in a time of poly-crisis. We are experiencing the coming together of multiple crises, with the effect that the whole is worse than the sum of its parts. This includes the overlapping weight of war, political instability, economic insecurity and climate disruption. These are some of the “thieves of hope”.
But you may have felt other thieves closer to home – anxiety, loneliness, fear.
So, for an article on hope, this has been a bit of a bleak start, so let’s now ask if there is anything we can do about this growing scarcity of hope?
Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” That’s where we begin.
Before we talk about what helps hope grow, let’s pause to define what we mean by hope. Hope is not just wishful thinking – it’s about having a confident expectation. Hope isn’t simply something we possess; it’s something we practise. Hope is less about a feeling and more about an action.
Hope is a verb
As Emma Wyndham Chalmers from Tearfund puts it: “Hope is not an ethereal concept. It’s boots-on-the-ground work. It’s action-oriented. Christian hope is hope in action.”
If hope is a verb, then is it something we do? So how do we “do hope”?
The research is clear: hope grows when three things come together – faith, community and action.
Hope through faith: People with an active spirituality are more hopeful. Faith gives purpose, meaning, and a bigger story to lean on. Church attendance, prayer and Christian practices all nurture hope, as evidenced in research, where 33 per cent of people who are “very hopeful” attend church monthly, compared to only 15 per cent of those with no religious beliefs.
READ MORE: Part One – A hope deep within
Hope through community: When asked, “Can I make a difference?”, 40 per cent said yes. But when asked, “Can we make a difference?” that number leapt to 72 per cent. There is power in togetherness. Hope multiplies in community.
Hope through action: Hope grows when we act. Not necessarily in grand, world-changing ways, but in simple, faithful steps: doing what is possible, what is right in front of us, the next right thing.
So, we face the challenge together, trusting that we can make a difference, because every action we take can be a step toward building a better future.
Safina Stewart, an Indigenous leader and artist, said, “Hope is not a naïve absence of reality. Hope is a defiance against these things that would come against us to stop us.”
Hope derives from action, and from action we derive hope.
The Tearfund report concludes, “The Bible has several words for hope. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word qavah captures that feeling of tension and expectation of living in the now and not yet. Qavah refers to the word qav, or cord. Like a cord or rope being stretched tight, this kind of hope recognises the pressure it’s under – tense and tight – but doesn’t snap. It sees a world that is broken and hurting, and it ... waits.
“As we live in both the now and the not yet of God’s big story, it’s normal to feel the tension. But as Christians, we can choose hope in uncertain times because we know the end of the story: love wins, the last shall be first, and justice will prevail. For He has a plan to heal and restore all creation to Himself, so we can choose to wait in hopeful expectation.”
Hope lives in the tension of now and not yet. We see it when a refugee family is welcomed into safety, even while millions remain displaced. We glimpse it when a community garden restores life to barren soil, though creation still groans under pollution and climate change. We celebrate moments of forgiveness in broken relationships, though reconciliation in our world is far from complete.
Hope leans into the reality that we live in the now and not yet, it acts, recognising what God is already doing now while trusting in the promise of what is not yet fully revealed.
As we practise hope together, may we see it grow, holding on to the prayer of Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may overflow with hope.”
To view the full report and resources on practising hope go to tearfund.org.au/hope
Lieutenant-Colonel Lyn Edge is a Salvation Army officer (pastor) in NSW.
