Whether the young and drunkards both abound in hope is a question asked by Saint Thomas in his treatise on that most enigmatic and – we must admit – all-too-neglected virtue (I-II, q. 40, a. 6). He answers in the affirmative, reasoning that, to the youth, lacking experience and history, the future seems large, expansive and full of potential, as well it should. Also, their bodies and their spirits (and the drunk, because of other kinds of ‘spirits’) – are also exalted and exuberant.
And so it should be. As Pope John Paul oft declared, the youth are our hope – in large part, we might add, because such hope naturally abounds in them.
One of the most deleterious aspects of these dark and apparently hope-less days, with lockdowns and minimal social interaction, is the consequent loss of hope, especially in the young. I will not here recount all the bad news – after all, this is an essay on hope – but anecdotal evidence and statistics are not difficult to find, from lassitude and depression, to drug use, desultory sex and suicides.