Article January 21, 1961 Issue

God-inspired Optimism

[Of Special Interest to Young People]

CAROL FREDERIC HIGGINS

One summer day two boys were drinking fruit juice. In a short time one said dejectedly, "Mine's half gone already."

The other, with a sparkle in his eye, replied, "My glass is still half full."

Why does one spoil what is enjoyable in life with pessimism when God-directed optimism magnifies good? The Bible recounts that when the children of Israel arrived at the borders of the Promised Land, a delegate from each tribe was to investigate the possibilities and report on them. After forty days Joshua and Caleb returned with an optimistic, divinely inspired report and begged the people to trust in God and to go in and possess the land. But the people chose rather to listen to the ten who were fearful and pessimistic, and as a consequence they spent the next thirty-eight years wandering. Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the original adult Israelites to enter the land after the wilderness experience. They trusted God.

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