I have multiple occasions to consider the phenomenon of optimism. I see many different examples of optimism and, perhaps just as frequently, its opposite, which is pessimism. I am sure when I was younger, I would have thought that optimism and pessimism were inherent to a situation. This means that a situation made me optimistic or pessimistic. I had no real choice; the situation dictated how we were to see it. That is a clear, firm answer, but now I think it is not the right answer.
I had to revise this way of looking at optimism when I realized in the same situation, some people were optimistic and others were pessimistic. People were responding from different angles to the same situation. Apparently, there was some choosing of perspective. The more I thought my way into this situation, the clearer I became that this position likely was closer to the way things are.
I am willing to grant that at some age, people may be shaped to see things optimistically or pessimistically. Our experiences shape us into one framework or another. Now I am not an expert on optimism. I have done a little research, but don’t know all the neuroscience, psychological, etc. way to settle the issue. What I do know is we are better off if we can be optimistic rather than pessimistic.
Optimism is related to hope in the opposite way that pessimism is linked to hope. The optimistic hopes things will turn out more positive and the pessimist is convinced there is no reason to hope. Each perspective will marshal its own explanation and rationale. It is easy to hear the pessimist lamenting, “it never works out anyway.” On the other hand, the optimist will chirp, “well, that didn’t work, but I know things will work out.” Optimism and pessimism are different ways of leaning into the future. In their own way, each shapes our way of seeing and welcoming or fearing the future.
The good news is we can learn to be optimistic---or at least, a little more optimistic. Perhaps another way of saying it is, we can learn to be less pessimistic---or at least, not so quick to become pessimistic. This initial assessment of things makes a big different. Optimists tend to be willing to keep acting and keep hoping. Things may not work out the way the optimist wants, but things won’t be too bad. Or they say, things will work out. It is difficult to get the optimist to quit.
The pessimist fears things will never work out. Things go downhill fast. A pessimist is unlikely to want to be engaged or give effort. Quitting seems like the smart thing to do. Brace yourself; you’re going to get hit! A pessimist actually gives up on hope. They flirt with despair. If they are committed pessimists, no one can say anything or do anything. If there is a glimmer of hope appearing, pessimists don’t trust it. Or they simply say it is a matter of luck…but they don’t trust it and will not feel lucky.
It is easy for me to see how this becomes a spiritual issue. But I also hasten to add, I believe truly spiritual people theoretically should tend towards being optimists. This is due to the fact that God is involved in the equation. The Apostle Paul did say there were three: faith hope and love. Granted Paul says the greatest of these is love. But that does not discount that hope is there. And hope is the driver of optimism. And if God is love---and love is the greatest of the three---then hope is linked to the love of God and that is always a good thing.
As I see it spiritually, spiritual optimists are grounded in the love of God and the faith that God somehow is helping shape the future which is to come. Of course, that does not discount the possibility of failure, problems, suffering and the like. God is not jerking us around like puppets. With our free will, we can choose stupid stuff and make things worse. We can create our own situations where pessimism is perfectly understandable.
When I think about the spiritual optimist, I can immediately name two characteristics. A spiritual optimist is always willing to make some effort to help things turn out positively. An optimist is not some passive person waiting for God to give him or her a good deal. Secondly, optimists typically do not insist that good news has to come in the way I expected it or wanted it to turn out. The optimist is willing to accept an outcome that is good and life-giving, even if it might not have been what I might have wanted or even expected. An optimist is flexible and nimble.
A spiritual optimist can claim legitimacy, because of their faith that God is in the mix. A pessimist can grow in this direction by allowing and then affirming that God is on our side. I suspect that optimism and pessimism are not absolutes. Most of us have some familiarity with both. I do think we can choose which way to face the future in more ways that we might imagine. I know I want to become more optimistic. I do think I can be optimistic and realistic at the same time. Again, optimism isn’t some hocus-pocus magical act.
Indeed, it is an act. It is an act of choosing how to lean into the future, a choice about making some effort and a choice about how I see God to be at work in the world.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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