Hope Beyond Hope

I Peter 1:3 "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope"

I just heard news that a young person who used to attend our Washington, DC youth group took his own life.  As you can imagine, I am saddened and deeply troubled.  In addition to my profound sadness, I am infinitely enraged at the conditions that too many young men, who live perpetually with their backs against the wall, endure.

We used to preach and teach that all the kids in our program had a living hope and a future.  But, I can only imagine that the circumstances of their lives told them a different story every day.  They lived with failing schools, the threat of police violence, family members in prison,  health issues and no health care...  Back in the day the kids weren't all smiles.  Still, when we would talk about the future, I remember seeing their faces light up with hope.  But, today this young man's smile can only seen in pictures and in the minds of those who will choose to remember him.

It's difficult to refrain from asking why would any young person would choose this response to the circumstances of their life.   Aren't there other alternatives?  Apparently, this young man didn't think so.

It's not often that I hear about an urban youngster taking his or her own life.  Unfortunately, I hear more often that their lives were tragically taken, either by disease, prison, or violence.  Out here in the suburbs, however, I don't hear much about urban youth at all.  It is in such a disconnected society, as ours, that creates a context in which this ultimate expression of despair is made possible.  Can we Christians proclaim a hope that does more than pay lip service to a positive future for people who have the courage to struggle against injustices everyday?  Can that hope be more than hot air in a four-walled sanctuary tucked away from the cares of the world? Rather, can it be a tangible manifestation of God's vision— a vision that transforms the circumstances in which too many urban boys, girls, men, women, students, employees, homeless, hungry, immigrants, veterans, find themselves?  If not, then we must find a hope beyond hope!