Hapless!

The definition of Hapless is to have no hap. That is, to have no luck, no fortune. In my heart of hearts I’ve often felt like this defines me too. I know it’s not true, but some days you simply cannot convince me otherwise. There are those to whom everything seems to come so easily. Those who go from one joy to another, those who always seem so full of hap-piness. I am not one of those people, and even when technically I am, I still don’t always feel like it. There are the Happy – like them, and the Hapless – like me.

And it is true, there are only two kinds of people in the world, but it has nothing to do with luck. The Crucifixion by Andrea Mantegna  (1431-1506) portrays the two kinds of people in this world admirably. It does so in the thieves on the crosses to either side of Jesus. In this world you are either like the thief on the right or the thief on the left. Both are sinners, both are deserving the punishment that lay before them, both will end up dead and in the grave. No difference there. Not much luck either!

The difference is that one of them realized this, while the other did not. One confessed his guilt and looked for mercy, while the other continued to blame his misfortune on the world around him right up to his dying breath. In this world there are not those who are lucky and those who are not. We are all sinners, deserving no luck, no fortune, no consideration from God whatsoever. But what sets some apart from the rest is the knowledge of that sin, and the repentant heart that looks for grace, mercy, and pity.

And that brings me to another definition of Hapless. One that I really appreciate. To be hapless is to be deserving pity, or inciting pity. When I start ranting and raving about the world being out to get me, my wife often looks at me with pity, but that’s not what I’m getting at here. While I do not deserve pity, I have incited another’s pity, and in that sense I will joyfully proclaim my haplessness to the world. Look to the picture again. It shows us only two kinds of people in the world, but it also shows us one wonderful Saviour between them both. One Lord and God, who took it upon Himself to hang on the cross and die for their sins – for my sins! An unparalleled act of pity, mercy and love, for those who are truly hapless. Better than all the luck of the world, Jesus Christ crucified … this is real Hope for the Hapless! May you, my dear fellow hapless, find Him to be your one and only hope too.