HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

Traveling on the train recently, I happened to pick up on a portion of a conversation between two friends, the essence of which prompts what I share here now.

The first friend said, “we are just going to get together for a drink and emm... drown our sorrows".

At that “emm…” moment, the other friend jumped in to complete the sentence as we sometimes do, and said “...Keep our spirits up". The obvious dichotomy of these two phrases, which were spoken with almost synchronized precision, instantly engaged my thought. Wow! Imagine that, I thought to myself. These two people may have had a somewhat common experience but their interpretation of it is certainly worlds apart.

Now, I don’t know how much drink it will take to drown one’s sorrow or to lift the spirits up, for that matter. And my interest in this is not in the merits of the use of alcohol to cope with life, nor indeed to give credence to any such usage of any intoxicants.

What holds the appeal for me in this brief dialogue is the thin line between pessimism and optimism so clearly displayed here, yet constituting a stark contrast between the friends in their outlook.

Two different attitudes to a problem situation, two different states of mind, and two inexorably different views on life! Here are two people looking at the same life situation yet whilst one responds in despair (“drown our sorrows”), the other responds in hope (keep our spirits up), albeit a transient lift.

Every now and then, we each come up against situations that compel us to decide whether the cup is half full or half empty – to fear the worst or hope for the best. What would you do? Drown your sorrows or keep your spirits up?

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the eternal optimist who believed the best about us even while we were yet sinners that He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sin. His word working in us by the agency of His Spirit is the power that changes things. We are instructed in the Scriptures:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” - Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)

And we can respond with an optimism that is based on faith in God:

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" - Lam 3:21-23 (ESV).

The pessimist in you may despair, saying, “what’s the point”, but in Christ, you have the grace to rise on the wings of optimism, and say, “why are you downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God” – Psalm 42:5 (NIV).