Faith for Flourishing

In life, our minds tend to tilt either towards hope or towards cynicism. These become lenses coloring how we see the world.

Cynicism pretends it has life figured out, that it has insight others lack. But truly, it has dismissed life’s complexity prematurely. Cynicism assumes the worst of situations and people. It critiques values and institutions as mere power plays. Behind its veneer of shrewdness, cynicism reveals a disillusioned cowardice about engaging life’s real problems.

Hope sees with eyes of possibility. It believes goodness can prevail, even when the arc of history bends slowly. Hope dares to risk believing that flawed people and systems can change for the better. It is the courageous voice declaring “we shall overcome.”

Cynicism pre-emptively gives up on today’s challenges, pronouncing them fruitless and intractable. Cynicism proudly resigns itself to accept evil and corruption as inevitable. In contrast, hope refuses to bow to darkness. It pots trees knowing future generations will enjoy the shade. As Vaclav Havel said, hope “is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.

The Bible embraces radical hope. Stories of deliverance declare that wickedness and oppression do not have the final say. God’s Kingdom is advancing forcefully, and the light is overcoming the darkness. No situation is beyond redemption. Indeed, no amount of darkness can overcome the smallest amount of light.

This hope is not Pollyannaish optimism. It is hope with eyes wide open to the depth of evil, yet with faith fixed on God’s power to redeem. Let us tilt our minds away from cynicism’s false wisdom toward hope’s courageous vision. Living this way will allow us to act decisively and humbly to improve our communities.