2nd Paper for Integration of Psychology and Theology

Engaging God’s World – Chapter 1: Hope and Longing
Hope is a four letter word, but the possibility of what it could mean goes so much deeper; the hope for success in “the real world”, hope for doing better where previous generations have not, hope for taking the gifts God has given me and to utilize them for his kingdom – both now and when I finish my degree. These are actually things I hope for and long for.
Hope is a dream that I believe all humans dream, but dreams do not come to fruition if they’re kept in an unconscious state, the dreamer needs to wake up and act upon his dream, the dreamer needs to see his slice of hope carried out to fruition otherwise what’s the point of hoping? Plantinga states that “people yearn for a time gone by” (p. 3) but I truly wonder if they long for the hope they once had which never came about or the naiveté of thinking those times were better times. I truly believe that we should take what we remember of the past – both good and bad – and dwell on it ever so briefly, but move on to the present, move into the future. We cannot go back in time to those moments in our lives, we move linear and we have to go forward but I am fully aware that there are moments where it is hard to move on.
When it comes to hoping and longing for me as a Psychologist, it’s for that time in my life where what I have learned in my classes, learned from studying, learned from applying finally thoroughly “clicks” in my mind, the light-bulb-above-the-head moment, where what I have learned makes sense in its entirety; I understand a lot of what I know from a Psychologist’s point of view, but some I figure I will grasp when I’ve been in the field a bit more, when I’ve experienced more of life. I truly enjoy what I have been learning for the most part, which makes the Masters Degree process difficult for me, but I will deal with that once I get there, for now I have to take care of my undergrad.
As a Christian I truly hope and long for the time when I get to live out my dreams and passions in regards to my calling (Youth Ministry). I have been doing youth ministry for close to 8 years now and eventually I want to get into doing it on a fulltime basis. My plans, dreams, hopes and desires for this year (as I’m school) is to make some contacts and present myself to some Young Life clubs in the southern California area, so that maybe once I finish my undergrad I can transition quicker with doing Youth Ministry out there, youth ministry in southern California is where I’d like to be at least for a while.
The reason why I have hopes and longings is because if I didn’t I might think less and do less; why put effort in if nothing will come of it? But I know that if I have some ideas, both ones of my own but also God given ones, I can do something with my life that transcends me from where I’m at right here andright now. I also recognize that my hopes and longing don’t only pertain to me, but they are for a larger audience as well; Youth Ministry is instructing and equipping kids, but also their parental guardians, their communities, etc. There are so many people who get influenced by the message of the Gospel that it goes beyond transforming someone’s life, but rather lives.
In my pursuit of my hopes and longings I know I will get there, but for what I trust in God but I also have to have an active role and to do what’s required of me to get there, I cannot be a bystander but someone who goes the distance to make these hopes and longings a reality.

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