(Listen to this homily here).
This afternoon I would like to make a case for
optimism. You know the
range—optimist, realist, pessimist?
The glass half-full or half-empty?
Here is why I think optimism (connected to reality) is the way to go.
I
have always enjoyed being around optimistic people. This probably began with my Mom. Though I didn’t always appreciate her 7:00am enthusiasm when
she’d wake me up, she’s the type of person that is always joyful. She frequently says, “It’s a great day
to be alive!” Or one of my cross-country
coaches. He was always affirming
us that we could run faster than we thought—we were capable of more than we
knew.
We
see both an optimistic and pessimistic attitudes on display in our first
reading from Numbers. The setting—the
Israelites were on the brink of the Promised Land, ready to receive God’s
gift. God ordered spies to search
the land and our reading describes their findings. The majority reported: “[The
land] does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. However, the people who are living
in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and
very strong...We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.” Note the Debbie-downer attitudes!
On
the other hand, Caleb and Joshua, “…to
quiet the people toward Moses, said, ‘We ought to go up and seize the land, for
we can certainly do so.’”
Their optimism came from a confidence in God’s fulfillment of His
promises. While the task of
entering the Promised Land was difficult, these two men knew it was possible—with
God all things are possible. As it
turns out, those who doubted in this moment never made it to the Promised Land—they
were punished for their lack of trust in God. Caleb and Joshua, however, did.
With
God on our side, why shouldn’t we be optimistic in life? Why shouldn’t we be joyful, full of
hope and excited to live?
The narrative from Numbers affirms a basic maxim in
life: whether you think you can or
you think you cannot, you are right.
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