Article October 19, 1998 Issue

WHAT KEEPS ME FROM BEING CYNICAL

Harriet Barry Schupp

"In my dictionary the word optimist has your picture by it," my friend said. We had been talking about a long-term situation that he felt was hopeless. He had been disappointed so many times that cynicism seemed a natural response.

In the face of what is before our eyes just about everywhere we look—the dishonesty, the backbiting, the failures—being optimistic can seem unrealistic. But the simple fact is that things are not always as they seem. To look deeply into the reality of things is to be "ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you" (I Pet. 3:15, J. B. Phillips translation).

This is the reason for my commitment to hope. A history of failure, or foibles, or animosities, has no place in God. Since He didn't create them, since He does not allow them, we cannot be bound by them. As His creation, His witnesses and reflection, we are not bound by evil or the shortcomings of materialistic living. God is unchanging good, present right where we are. When we accept this comforting fact, it wipes out cynicism. Even when life seems hopeless, holding to the love that God has for all His creation, and for each of us specifically, brings healing and restoration.

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