What good you do, you possess. You must believe that eternal goodness exists within you, and that it grows and develops as long as you live.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Cited in Calendar of Wisdom
Among the Transcendentalists, Emerson was clearly an optimist or at least hopeful about the reach and the growth of humankind! He clearly believed in the possibilities of growth and change in the ethical, moral, and spiritual concerns of life. He recommended that, along with Bronson Alcott and others, that education can serve personal, ethical, and spiritual growth.
After many years of working with people in various spheres of life; from relationships in family counseling, to drug and alcohol programs and their challenges, throughout the years in ministry and all its various pastoral concerns, I have come to believe this axiom:
“That I am a pessimist about human nature, but an optimist about human potential”
As the old adage goes, “when left to his human devices” which in a more contemporary sense, or when left only to the dictates of the human ego– its drives, passions, and subjective desires etc., there is ample room for pessimism to reign supreme!
What my outlook points to is the ongoing human need for access to quality education, counseling, psychotherapy and spiritual direction. A variety of approaches and ways of understanding that would assist anyone with clear thinking, responsible, and ethical actions.
Ways of understanding that would increase the human willingness to change and offer insights that are necessary to outgrow our stubborn, entrenched, weirdly comfortable, and familiar dysfunctional patterns of living!
As for optimism… While I have certainly encountered my fair share of destructive behaviors, it has served me well to tenaciously hang on to my firm belief in the goodness of humankind; and in the desire to care for our families, neighbors, the environment, and the world…
This respect and hope for humanity is nonetheless hard won in religious circles; Many of our Western religious institutions will emphasize our “sinful nature” and corruptible souls which, for me, in my positive approach to theology and teleology, starts every person out with a difficult handicap or two strikes!
Once I encountered Emerson and the Transcendentalists, my optimism was able to bloom in the ideas that were to become the forerunners of the human potential movement, and in religion, it became the basis for many expressions of New Thought and its descendant faiths.
Some days, I find myself clinging to that positive view, and that it is hard to muster any portion of confidence in humanity’s motives and acts. My first recourse is to shut off the media sources that blare out these depressing events and oftentimes disheartening results…
Next, depending on my reservoirs of energy and focus for that day, I will go for a walk, or reach for something more inspirational and hope-filled to read…
I have always searched diligently for strategies that would help me to cope; and that can restore my hope, and that encourages me to retain my optimism, so that I can reach out in a caring and positive way again tomorrow…
One Spirit Coaching 