Response 1- Beyond Hope

Beyond Hope” by Derrick Jenson illustrates the idea that in today’s day in age, it is necessary to be optimistic, but not to be hopeful. When I first read this, I found it difficult to distinguish the two, but after reading the article a second and third time, I was finally able to better understand the points that had been made.

Jenson states that hope is what limits us, and forces us to become part of the destruction of the earth in which we live. When people waste their time being hopeful, they don’t allow themselves the opportunity to make a change that is worthy of making a difference.

It is interesting to note that Jenson believes that hope is a bad thing, yet many would disagree saying that it is necessary in order to live a decent life. Hope is what makes us feel more confident, and happy about what is to come in the future, when times are looking dark, and there seems to be no positive reasons to continue living positively. Jenson states that hope is “a curse, a bain”, only allowing people to look off into “an imaginary future”. I believe that this means that he feels that people should stop hoping, and start living in the present moment. To hope leaves the individual basically powerless.

I would say that I agree with Jenson to some extent. I believe that when people stop obsessing over hope, they will actually find time to do something about whatever situation they are currently facing. My dad was always a firm believer in the idea that nothing ever got done on its own, you need to put in effort, and eventually the desired outcome will be achieved. Sitting around hoping, and constantly thinking about what could happen, takes away time from direct action that could be taking place instead.

When trying to relate these ideas to my own personal life, I see the act of not relying on hope can truly affect, my life both personally and academically. I believe that when faced with certain conditions throughout our lives, as well as being part of a learning community, it is important to remember, that there will be cases in which things are thrown at us out of left field. It is important to keep our feet on the ground, and immediately take action to learn, and deal with the issues at hand.  It’s important to remember that people will not do your work for you, and that when stressed hoping for things to become easier, wont accomplish anything.

During class when we were discussing the impact that humans have on our environment, I found the carbon footprints to be very helpful in further proving this point. I find it rather interesting that although I am only one person, the things that I buy, and the way that I live, do have an impact on the environment. I use to sit back and think that because I am only one small person, that my lifestyle had no impact on the environment around me. Instead of thinking like this now, I have come to realize that if I become more aware of the things I do, I can start to make a small difference, and hopefully lend a hand at trying to correct a problem that we as human beings have created for ourselves. It is no longer acceptable for me to think that I don’t have to help participate in saving our environment, due to the fact that I am only one person, I must stop waiting for everyone else to do something about it, and start contributing myself

This whole idea really puts life into perspective for me. It allows me to finally understand the world around me, and learn from the mistakes of my past, in which I have not taken immediate action to correct setbacks of any type on my own.