Faith is necessary for Christian doctrine; love is essential for Christian practice. But hope–genuine hope in the reality to which all doctrine points and all practice imitates–is why we chose the Christian way in the first place…and why we hold to our faith and practice our love in the long wait between the times. The story is not over yet. The new day will dawn, in which the mere echoes of goodness, beauty, and truth which we have witnessed this side of His coming will give way to the fullness for which our hearts are longing.