BEING AND BECOMING OPTIMISTIC (2)
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.
Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.
Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………
Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……
Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence – Solitude…to just being here and now without having to accomplish something.
Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….
As deformed by sin, violence and war, the shape of this world will pass away. We are offered the hope that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where justice and peace meet, embrace and abide……… and the blessedness that comes from this transformed world will surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.
On our earth the Kingdom of God is already present in mystery: it is and it is not yet. It is the beyond that is within! One who is transformed by the beatitudes will come to know the “beyond that is within”. This is our hope….this is the source of optimism.
To be part of the reign of God means to enter into a process of continually experiencing conversion…..John the Baptist and Jesus called for “repentance” and that is what conversion is……an ongoing, life-long conversion!
A necessary and integral part of this continual conversion for the disciple of Jesus, in search of a more just and non-violent world, is the conversion from discouragement and the temptation to escape the suffering of the world to an enduring commitment based on hope. The temptation we often face is to give up the struggle totally, to stop reading the newspaper, to withdraw into a privatized spirituality.
This is not the spirituality of the Gospel of Jesus. The Beatitudes lead us to ‘creative insecurity’ or ‘dynamic insecurity’. If you are secure, you don’t need grace….you don’t need prayer…. you don’t need brothers and sisters… you don’t need the power of God’. If the reign of God is to be ours, we must have hope….we must be optimistic.
Our Optimism is rooted in the unconditional love of God for each human being. God never gives up on anyone. God’s love is everlasting…..steadfast…..unconditional. Hope in the Old Testament is centered on people like Abraham and Sarah. The Old Testament breathes an atmosphere of hope throughout — dynamic expectation, not a passive desire or wish. Even Israel’s unfaithfulness did not hinder hope. The motive of hope is the past deeds of Yahweh, which gives confidence in God’s power to fulfill his promises and makes us optimistic.
In the New Testament, Jesus announces the arrival of the Kingdom, the reign of God, in the world. It is a future near at hand…..a future present in the present!!! The believer lives in hope. The concept of hope is most fully developed by St Paul, especially in his letter to the Romans. We boast of our hope for the glory of God. (See chapter 5) In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance. Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer. (See Ch. 8 & 12)
Paul does not think that hope is easily attained; it is the fruit of proved virtue which in turn is produced through patient suffering.
Jesus’ resurrection is our most radical sign of hope. It means that the power of sin and death has been overcome (1 Corinthians 15) and that we share in the freedom of the resurrection. We share in it as individuals and as a people.
Believing in the resurrection means making a commitment to live in hope despite the injustices that we are aware of, despite the acts of violence that we read about or, perhaps, have experienced.
Abide in these thoughts for some time
Optimism calls us to nurture a “resurrection” attitude. To maintain a resurrection-outlook, we need to be attentive to the ‘signs of hope’ in and around us………
Whatever the justice or peace issue that most captures your heart, you will find signs of hope if you keep in mind two realities: big ships (i.e. social structures) turn slowly and attitudes take a longer period to change than do actions.
We need to be able to rejoice in small victories and to concentrate on the good already being done rather than continually lament the absences. This disposition leads us to hope and enables us to work for further change with perseverance….be optimistic.
It is important to realize how you are a sign of hope, a source of optimism for others: by your faith lived out in a commitment to compassion and peace, by your joyful love and by your persevering dedication, to be a person of the Beatitudes in an ongoing, continual process of conversion, transformation………..
In the biblical world one hopes for the future because one has already seen the creative event taking place in the past. We are empowered to hope for our personal future and for the future of our world because we have seen and are seeing creative events stimulated by the Spirit and carried out by our brothers and sisters, carried out by us……
Optimism is hearing the melody of the future. Living the Beatitudes in a spirit of hope is to sing and dance the resurrection………to be people of the resurrection……to develop a “resurrection attitude”. It is to live in the reign of God.
Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.
Obstacles are things you see when you take your eyes of the goal. Stay focused on the goal and be optimistic!!
Be optimistic! People can change and become what they are created to become.
Optimism is an attitude, a disposition toward the world as a good and positive place.
An optimist generally believes that people and events are inherently good; that most situations work out in the end for the best.
Optimism is a spiritual posture, a dynamic and positive way being present in the world and not just an emotional state or mere sentimentality.
Be optimistic! Hold your head high even in the midst of trials and testing times.
I pray that you continue to be optimistic……
Be positive! Think positive! Be a remarkable sign of hope for the world!
Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs