Catholic Optimism

"Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."

– Vaclav Havel

Years ago, in the midst of my parents' divorce and my family's move to a new school district, I found myself in a dark place. Now this is not the kind of dark place that leads to drug addiction, violent outbursts, or suicide attempts, but rather the kind that turns your world quite upside down leaving you uncertain about that which you can truly rely on. With a cracked family foundation (yet very loving parents) and a formless peer group, I was in search of solace and stability. These were my teenage years and they were my dark nights of the soul. It was time for forming my faith.

Faith had always played a large role in my family's life. Regular church attendance (Protestant, at the time), Sunday School, Confirmation, prayers before meals and bedtime, and discussions about God were commonplace in our household. The divorce and relocation, however, brought God into deeper relevance and sharper focus for me. My sure-footed firmament of family and friends was dramatically shaken. As a consequence, I felt called to better understand the strength and nuance of my faith. I began having conversations with pastors, reading the Bible and works elaborating on it, praying more actively and paying more attention to God's presence in my life. Although growing in my faith, I still had my share of anxieties. It was around this time that my dad introduced me to the book called "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. For days and weeks, in the midst of his stressful and high-profile job, my dad coached, counseled, and simply listened to me as I poured forth anxieties both rational and irrational. It was in the midst of one of these discussions that he laid Peale's book in front of me and said, "Read this. It's got some good points." Ever-eager to crawl out of my despondency, I gave it a try.

The premise of "The Power of Positive Thinking" is fundamentally religious. Rooted in Biblical passages and spiritual anecdotes, it is an attempt to bring fundamental Christian principles to everyday living. Yes, there is somewhat of a dated pop-psychology, self-help feel to the book that could make many simply dismiss it. Yet buried in the book's superficial verities are deeper roots of wisdom. Unlike so many of the post-modern, rudderless self-help philosophies, Norman Vincent Peale's approach was built on the bedrock of Christ. The reader is encouraged to be in frequent dialogue with God and to bring prayer to Him about anything and everything. The book reminds us that we were designed for joy, not fear, and that Christ is our unwavering Strength and Source for this joy. Unfortunately, our modern age deforms our worldview enticing us to wallow in guilt and entertain our anxieties. Peale instead prompts us to reform our vision and reshape our outlook with an unwavering focus on the true, the good, and the beautiful in our lives. (Of note, a disappointing epilogue to Norman Vincent Peale's story is the anti-Catholic campaign he undertook specifically regarding the presidential candidacy of John F. Kennedy. That said, on with positive thinking…)

Needless to say, this simple, yet profound "positive-thinking" worldview was a tonic during the dark times I was experiencing. It appeared that the entreaties, anecdotes, and home-spun wisdom of a New York Reformed Church pastor were a subtle and invaluable prodding by God. I found that a renewed and revitalized lens through which I could appreciate the world was being shaped. The foundation of my life was re-forming underneath me with a greater and more relevant sense of God in my life. The worldview I was adopting was, effectively, one of hope instead of anxiety. And I came to appreciate the notion of "Optimism". Peale defined Optimism as:

"A philosophy based on the belief that basically life is good, that, in the long run, the good in life overbalances the evil."

Now while this seems simplistic, it is at the same time deeply theological. The intrinsic good of Creation is recognized as superior to the parasitic evil that persistently gnaws at it. The Dignity of man and our Redemption in Christ trumps the Original Sin that tainted paradise. In rapid fashion, however, modern times (and philosophy) have created a curious afterlife for the original notion of "Optimism". Optimism is no longer rooted in a theological sense of good and evil. Nor does it recognize the innate dignity of man. It has sanitized God out of the equation. Rather, what is left of Optimism is a hollowed-out, starry-eyed, "