Is your cup half empty or half full?
It has often been said that we, as a people, fall into two categories: Pessimists or optimists. Some of us look upon our world and what is happening to it as pessimists and some take an optimistic view of things as they exist.
If you are of the former, you may see things about you as being like a cup that is half empty; if you are of the latter, you see things like a cup that is half full.
A pessimist is likely to see the world as going to hell in a handcart.They point to the unraveling of events in the Middle East, chronic poverty in many parts of the world, ethnic cleansing in Africa and China, slavery, outbreaks of AIDS, and unchecked moral decay of our civilization. The list could go on and on.
The optimist is likely to view the world in a more positive light (e.g., the cup as half full).
Examples might include the fall of Nazism, the demise of Communist influence through the liberation of Eastern Europe, the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the end of apartheid in South Africa, getting a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic, and a commitment to pursue peace in the Middle East.
Which camp are you in? While it is quite easy to be pessimistic over what goes on today in our world, being so does little to solve our problems and generally makes us sour on life.
In short, it makes us feel rotten.
The optimist, while perhaps not understanding how to correct the evils of the world, is at least willing to try or to support efforts to make this a better world.
To steal from Charles Dickens, this is both the best and the worst of times.
Perhaps we can take a lesson by turning to and trusting in the Almighty.
As John in Chapter 16, verse 33 says, “I tell you this that in me you may find peace. You will suffer in the world. But take courage! I have overcome the world.”
As you view things, is your cup half full or half empty?
Ray McCool
St. Dennis Parish
Madison