In today’s world, it’s easy to become emotionally burdened by the messages of doom and gloom communicated by our ever-changing news cycle on both ends of the political spectrum. This has created more self-ascribed pessimists than perhaps ever before. Make no mistake—there is much to be vigilant, active, and prayerful about, but it begs the question: does our inner life in response to these things really matter?
In the featured Praxis Circle clip above, Contributor Robert George speaks to this, explaining his reasons for both hope and optimism regarding our nation’s future:
Why am I optimistic about America? Well, first of course, and most importantly, more importantly than being optimistic is I’m hopeful. And I’m hopeful because Jesus tells us to be hopeful. Hope is a virtue. It’s a theological virtue. We’re all called to be hopeful. We can never give up hope. We can never leave that out of the picture. We can never be hopeless. That’s the sin against the Holy Spirit. That’s the unforgivable, unpardonable sin. Don’t go there. We have to be people of hope no matter how bad things are. But today I’m not only hopeful as bad as things are, I’m actually optimistic. Which I don’t have to be. Jesus doesn’t command you to be optimistic, and there may be times coming when I won’t be able to be optimistic. But why am I optimistic now? It’s because I spend my time teaching young men and women sent to us by Princeton’s wonderful Admissions Office, which means I get to teach really brilliant young men and women.
And while I see in our young men and women today many of the problems that we have in our society, people with their values askew, people forgetting to focus on what really matters like faith and family and friendship and compassion and decency and honor, and focusing on money and power and fame and influence and prestige. While I see all that, it’s amazing how many of our young people I see or see coming around to getting their priorities right. And not only getting their priorities right, putting money and power and fame and wealth and prestige in second place. Putting faith and family and friendship and honor and compassion and dignity in first place. Not only do I see them embracing that and coming around to it, I see them brilliantly defending it and exemplifying extraordinary courage in defending it.
It’s amazing to me. These kids, sometimes it’s really hard. They know they’re going to get blasted on social media. They know they’re going to get shunned in the dining halls, and yet they’ve got the courage to speak out. And they’re using the beautiful intellects that they have been blessed with, the powerful brilliance that they have to make the case to their fellow students. And often they win over their fellow students. They’re doing more of the work than we on the teaching faculty are doing when it comes to really bringing kids to seriously critically scrutinize their values and some of the orthodoxies that are out there, especially the woke ideology that you find.
So how can I be pessimistic when I see this? I can only be optimistic. I can only be hopeful. I can only be amazed at how brilliant and how courageous these young people are. And honestly, they put us older people to… Especially us older Christians to shame. We should be ashamed of ourselves. They are exemplifying courage that we should be exemplifying it. We’re not modeling it enough for them and they’re managing to do it anyway. Think of how many more and how much better they would do it if there were more people at the senior level if I can describe us that way, who were ourselves being their role models and exemplifying it. So let’s do that, let’s take inspiration from our youngsters and try to provide them with the support and the good examples that they need.
For the Christian, Dr. George says that hope is a theological virtue. We are told many times in Scripture, particularly in Paul’s letter to the Romans, to remain hopeful and not dwell on current circumstances but instead to look towards a future glory and the second coming of Christ. It does not mean we feign or force optimism, but that we never lose sight of where the redemptive timeline is taking us. There is purpose and a plan. Christianity is inherently a hopeful religion, and our worldview requires us to reflect that.
And when there is reason to be both hopeful and optimistic, we rejoice all the more. Dr. George reminds of us of the good people and good things happening in the world. While we at Praxis Circle do not shy away from talking about the many harsh realities we are facing today, it cannot be overshadowed by all that is right.
We just had our first snow of the season, and it reminded me of how this time of year, the world often gets just a little brighter and a little softer as we anticipate the joy and hope that Christmas brings. This year, Christians, let’s lean into that and cultivate an outlook that honors the ways in which God is working in us and through us. Last week, we reflected on how much there is to be thankful for—now let us reflect on what we have to hope in. After all, light has come into the world, and the darkness has not overcome it.
