More often than not, I want to avoid national and global news these days. Awareness of how wretchedly humans treat one another often leads to shoving out hope, leaving a limp prospect of altering unjust and harsh situations. I’m not alone in this increasing discouragement. But then, along comes a movement of grace—my rediscovery of Beatrice Bruteau’s Radical Optimism. This book, first published in 1993, was relevant for the world’s pain then, and is even more so now. I opened to read this wisdom on page 3:
“The more troubled the world becomes, the more important it becomes to be optimistic. And the more deeply we need to root our optimism. When we cannot reasonably base it on the way things are going, we know we have to base it in the ultimate reality of God. We know it has to be radical. …Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said that we will not make the effort that is necessary to move us to…the world of global peace and friendship and prosperity, unless we believe it has a very good chance of succeeding. …Visions of utopias have a place in our thoughts and in our efforts because they activate the ideas and the desires that move us in those directions.”
Not long ago someone commented, “No matter who wins the next presidential race, there’s going to be violence.” What if our imagination, our positivity, suggested otherwise: “There will be a peaceful passing into the next presidency.” Or “Hatred and violence can be left behind.” Think of people in the past up against impossible odds on making crucial changes: women gaining the right to vote, the Berlin Wall coming down, the Civil Rights Movement significantly affecting the life of Black persons. People believed it could happen. It did.
After insisting on the need for optimism, Bruteau suggests that contemplation offers a central way to develop and retain optimism. This form of reflection focuses on our inner world, “a deeper place with surer values and a more authentic selfhood.” When we pause to pray, meditate, and send forth love into the world, it may seem as if nothing is being changed. But not only religious beliefs assure us that our prayers have an effect. Studies of the brain show that what goes forth from our minds and hearts influences the outcome. Brain waves move outward, carried into the larger world where they connect to other brain waves and influence them. The vibrations of our prayerful hearts do the same.
Radical optimism differs from magic or an egoism that believes something can be forced to happen just because it’s willed. Optimism moves toward the good and takes action toward consequences favoring the welfare of all beings. Optimism knows big changes take patience and trust. Long ago I read a quote of Clarissa Pinkola Estes that reminds me of our reliance on one another if we are to retain optimism amid what seems certain defeat:
My friends, do not lose heart.. …One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires…causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these—to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity… Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
Let’s keep shining the lantern of our radical optimism as best we can.
Abundant peace,
Joyce Rupp
P.S. Scroll down to find a reflection of mine, related to Lent.
“The Lost Lamb”, Joyce Rupp
Guardian of My Heart,
so much in me gets lost.
I run off in other directions
and lose my vision of you,
and of your realm of love.
I lose sight of my hopes,
I forget all your promises.
I get lost in problems,
run around in selfishness.
there you are, before me
waiting, calling.
there you are, behind me,
following, pursuing.
there you are, beside me,
caring, loving.
what is it you’ve placed
in this heart of mine?
what is it that keeps me bonded to you
in spite of all my arrogance,
in spite of all my independence?
I feel a new surge today,
a re-visioning of hope.
I feel as if you’ve lifted me up
and are carrying me home,
safe and secure on your shoulders,
or maybe next to your heart.
O Guardian of lost sheep,
appeal again and again
to all the lost-ness in me.
pursue me relentlessly.
carry me home. O, carry me home.
(from Fresh Bread, slightly adapted)
