Optimist or Pessimist?

  • Published
  • By Maj. William Constantine
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing chaplain
How many people do you know who are pessimists? To many people, looking at the negative is so much easier than looking at the positive. For some the good in our world is hard to see. There is much in our world to give a person reason to be a pessimist.

Here are some words from John R. Gunn: "With so much war and carnage and death and destruction going on, with so much turmoil and strife, with so many turbulent voices speaking different things, with clashing interests and conflicting ambitions playing havoc everywhere, it would seem that this is a hopeless world." Were these words written in 2007? No, they were published in 1927.

Times have changed little. However, Gunn also said, "But thank God for a faith which refuses to accept this apparently hopeless situation."

If I were around back then and could talk to Mr. Gunn, what would I say? Would I tell him about all the good things that are going to happen, such as all the medical breakthroughs, air travel, computers, and all the other things that make living today great, or would I tell him about the destruction of our time?

I am glad to know that with all the pessimists there are many people, especially in our military, who are optimists and visionaries. There have been people throughout the centuries who have looked ahead with a vision and hope. These people are those who have kept our society hopeful. I challenge you to be an optimist and a visionary.