Our scripture today tells of Elijah praying for rain. After he prays, he sends his servant to see if there are any clouds in sight. The servant comes back with the report that there is a cloud the size of man's hand. This is enough for Elijah; he says, "Prepare for rain." This is a story of faith and optimism. Elijah saw in a speck of a cloud the possibilities of a deluge.
Most of us would like to have this optimistic attitude--we are attracted to people who have a spirit of optimism and cheerfulness. However, I read recently where a man went to the doctor complaining of abdominal pains. The diagnosis was an ulcer. The doctor told the man he would have to quit worrying and be more optimistic. "That's my trouble," the man said. "My business partner is an optimist and that's the reason I have an ulcer."
What is an optimist? The dictionary tells us that an optimism is "The doctrine that the good of life over-balances the pain and evil of it; that life is preponderantly good. The inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and happenings, minimize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or anticipate the best possible outcome; a cheerful and hopeful temperament."
We all have the potential to become optimistic optimistic, but we must first have a clear understanding on what an optimist is and is not. Let's consider three characteristics of an "Incurable Optimist." First of all,
1. AN OPTIMISTIC OPTIMIST IS NOT BLIND
There is an old story of a man falling down from a 12 story building. When he reached the sixth floor he said to himself, "So far, so good." He was blind to his actual predicament.
Some would say, "If you really see what is going on in this world, you can't be much of an optimist. It is a world where tragedy and triumph are interwoven and nobody can disentangle them. So how can optimism be a prevailing mood?"
There is no greater danger to our society than the superficial optimist. These people dream that some day their ship is going to come in. They think always that there is a blue bird around the corner. They keep saying that everything is going to be all right which is often times nothing more than sentimentality.
Long before the two Watts riots in Los Angeles in the early sixties, we were warned of the growing restlessness of thousands of jobless Southern Blacks congregating in the Watts area.
Many leaders ignored the problem; they believed sooner or later it would go away. This was a case of blind optimism. The problem didn't go away--and the end result was the worst race riots in U.S. History. Hope rises not out of blindness to a situation, but out of awareness of a situation.
As someone said, "There are fifty ways to fight a fire, but shutting your eyes is not one of them."
Optimists are often accused of being blind. In reality, the pessimist is the blind one. He can see only the dark side of everything--he is blind to the possibilities of any given situation.
Dr. E.A. Hooten, an anthropologist from Harvard, predicted that we are in the "Twilight of Man."
"It will be only a matter of time until the new nuclear weapons will destroy all living things on this planet." He sees only the dark side of atomic power. When I read these words, I feel like praying the prayer of Psalmist, "O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me." (Psalm 43:3)
In reality, the light and truth of science can lead us into a world of greater abundance, and we know now that the resources of our planet are practically limitless. With such abundance, humanity can banish poverty from the face of the earth.
I used to read about the earth running down in energy and pessimists predicted a burnt-out universe. Atomic scientists are telling us now that there is enough available energy to keep man supplied for more than nine hundred thousand billion years. The pessimists are blind to this side of nuclear energies. The pessimist sees the power that can destroy the world and the optimist sees in that same power the hope of the world. The optimist I speak of is not one who ignores the danger and the hazards. Optimism comes out of awareness, not blindness.
The individual of rugged faith who creates an optimistic spirit has usually been in the struggle of life. This person has faced the storm, and is like an eagle flying high among the mountain crags.
Suddenly, a quick storm descends and it seems, for the moment, that its fury will dash him to death against the cliffs. But the eagle faces the storm, tilts his wings at a proper angle, and slowly the fury that might have crushed him begins to drive him upward...until at last he rises above the storm. The very power that would have destroyed him became the power by which he reached a new height above the fury below.
Faith in God is the tilting of the wings of the soul. The storms are going to come to everyone, but it is the tilt of the wings that makes the difference. The optimism I speak of doesn't come from being blind, but from being brave. Secondly...
2. THE OPTIMISTIC OPTIMIST IS NOT BLAND
Bland, as you know, means non-irritating. The real optimist is often irritated. He is often frustrated. He doesn't drift along in a dream world whereby nothing bothers him. Sure, problems are irritating, but everybody has problems. Life is a series of problems to be solved. Anyone who doesn't know this is in for a real awakening. Many people regard problems as a bad thing--something unpleasant which you have to deal with. This is a wrong evaluation.
Norman Vincent Peale was walking along Fifth Avenue in New York when he met a friend named George. It was evident from George's depressed demeanor and dispirited countenance that he was not what you might describe as "effervescently happy." In fact, he was a picture of disconsolate woebegoneness. So Dr. Peale asked him, "How are you George?" It was a routine inquiry, but George took it seriously and spent fifteen minutes meticulously enlightening Dr. Peale on how bad he felt. "What's the matter?" probed Dr. Peale. Back came the rejoinder as George said, "It's the problems. Nothing but problems and more problems. I'm fed up with problems. I would give you a thousand dollars if you could help me." Dr. Peale said, "Let me offer you this thought. I was recently in a place where there were over one hundred thousand people and not a single person had a problem." "Where is this place? That's for me." George responded with enthusiasm. Dr. Peale replied, "The place is Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. No one in Woodlawn has a problem. They all rest from their labors...nothing concerns them..." George got the point. The possession of problems is a sign of life.
Some people think that a church with big problems is real trouble. I have found that the church with few problems is the church without life. When a congregation has a great challenge it becomes as great as the challenge. One of the worst situations I know of is a church that has everything paid for...there are a few wealthy people who always take care of any deficit, but there is not life. Complacency has set in. They are comfortable, but ineffective. Churches need to be challenged; great challenges make great churches. Problems become stepping stones which lead us to a new height.
Charles Kettering said:
"Don't bring me your successes;
they weaken me.
Bring me your problems;
they strengthen me.
Some people need to be irritated into life. Sometime ago I was watching a director at one of the television studios in Hollywood. An actor was not performing up to his capability and the director knew it. With slight barbs of speech the director finally irritated the actor enough for him to come to life and "live" the part. Sometimes this is the task of the minister...else the congregation becomes too complacent. He must afflict the comfortable.
An optimist can be discontented. Things do not seem to be exactly as he desires them to be, but he intends to push onward. As Christians, ours is the discontent of the optimists and not the dull despair which afflicts a decaying civilization.
You can discern the optimism of the civil rights movement by the songs that are sung. When we listen to "We Shall Overcome" we have come into the world of historical optimism in which this world is the place and now is the time for making long-overdue changes. In the midst of this irritation that will not allow us to go blandly our way, there is optimism.
Our homes, sometimes, may seem to be a place of irritation, and it may seem that the demands are greater than the rewards. Mother's little helper becomes mother's little 'yelper.' Harlan Miller wrote a column entitled "A Man in the House." He could list in prolific manner the frictions and frustrations of a home that makes every man envy the bachelor down the street. But after acknowledging the irritations and the dark side of home life, he turns his gaze toward the light. He writes,
"When our daughter changes to slacks from blue jeans just to please me...or our youngest asked me why I don't retire instead of working so hard...and Junior begins sentences with 'You've got a point, Dad'...or my dream woman, after a quarrel, just as I'm opening my mouth to say the same thing beats me to the draw with, 'Maybe I was mistaken'...it all adds up to a vote of confidence and my self-esteem, often in eclipse, blooms again amidst the flexible safeguards of family life."
Robert Louis Stevenson struck this note:
Lord if this were enough...
With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night,
To know that somehow the right is the right,
and the smooth shall bloom from the rough.
There is the truth. Our optimism doesn't come from blandness, but the smooth blooms from the rough. The Incurable Optimist is not blind, he is not bland, and also note...
3. THEOPTIMISTIC OPTIMIST IS NOT BLUE
One definition of the word "blue" is that "the prospect is gloomy." So many people get the impression that church people are a rather dour and gloomy lot. They don't enjoy life and they don't want anyone else to. Nothing is wrong much unless it is fun, and if it is fun, it is suspect.
Dr. William Inge of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, was sometimes referred to as the "gloomy dean." However, he had a saving sense of humor. Noting the bitter and mean outlook of so many self-righteous persons, he said of them, "We who know them on earth can understand that their appearance in heaven will not be greeted with enthusiasm."
If anything should characterize a Christian it is that he is not gloomy. He believes in the future.
The world has not ended in a bang or a whimper--there is a sense of assurance about the security of our future.
Saul Bellows is one author who has written about the end of pessimism and he lashes out against those who tell you how good dread is. He writes:
"Men are tired of the despair and pessimism that has been our diet for so long. The cant and rant of the pip-squeaks about forlornness are seen for what they are."
The optimism that emerges out of our culture is because Christianity has entered too deeply into the traditions of our people. We have absorbed hopefulness from our Christian faith. For Christianity is hopeful, it has a hopeful idea of God, a hopeful estimate of humanity, a hopeful ideal of the Kingdom of Righteousness on earth, and a hopeful outlook on eternity. Our optimism in not merely to endure, but it is based on our faith that believes in the fulfillment of our hope in Christ our Lord. It's in this spirit that we go forth.
In our day when there are pessimistic voices speaking out against the future of the church, let me say I believe in the church more than ever. Why? Because when you touch the heart of the church, you discover that it believes in ultimate victory. This faith takes in all of life and death--it is not a temporary arrangement--it doesn't forsake when tragedy raises its ugly head to stare us down to despair. Ours is a faith of ultimate victory.
Where else is there an institution that proclaims that? Our optimism is not short lived as long as things go well on the surface and we have prosperity to enjoy. Ah no, it is at a cross and a man bleeding and hearing the taunts of the accusers that the greatest hope is realized. So we sing "In the Cross of Christ I Glory" because out of this tragedy there is triumph. Cut deeply into one who has this faith and he will laugh the laughter of the saints who know all is well.
Rupert Brooke, the young poet, spent a day with the veteran novelist Henry James. As he left, the older man gave him a bit of parting advice which Brooke never forgot. Henry James said to the young man, "Do not be afraid of being happy."
CONCLUSION
I will close with a story about one of the greatest persons I have ever known. She was a woman with a mirth that was contagious. I met her when she was in her seventies. I was caught by her charm and her graciousness. She was a widow. Her husband had distinguished himself in the construction business; he had built Madison Square Garden. This special lady had traveled all over the world. Every visit with her left me with a gladness to be alive. Then she was struck down with a terminal illness. She knew it would be just a short time before she died, but this indomitable spirit of hers still radiated the joy of life. I recall the last visit I made with her. She smiled broadly--and it was a genuine smile. She said to me, "You know most people fear death, but I have lived so deeply and so richly, and I have had so many wonderful experiences that I count this as another great adventure. Perhaps it is the greatest adventure I shall ever have. I am anticipating it with great interest." She smiled again reflecting a deep joy that was born of faith.
That is what they said about the Christians in those first centuries--they die better. There is always the bright prospects of the future.
Do not be afraid to be happy. Any Christian can be an optimistic optimist.
