Hope for the future and being a community of hope

This past week I had the privilege of doing the closing plenary address at the Stellenbosch University Winter School. The theme of the conference was hope. The quote below sums up what I tried to say.

“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own; therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

Reinhold Niebuhr. In short, we act today for what we hope for and anticipate tomorrow. Moreover, everything worth doing is best done in community and partnership. Finally, we are all embraced in grace and love - the is the reason for hope! In this picture are the three keynote speakers (see *) and some of the other speakers and organizers of the great event (left to right) Prof Aben from Jos Nigeria (a visiting scholar), *Mrs Marlene le Roux, (back) Dr Danie O'Kennedy, (front) Dr Bruce Theron, (back) *Dr Mvume Dandala, *Dr Dion Forster.