“The Lord rescues those whose spirits are crushed." ~ Psalm
34:18
At his core, Jack was a cynic. It didn’t mean he was pessimistic; simply
that he doubted human nature as a whole.
It may have been the way he was raised, having parents who
taught him that no one is ever truly who they seemed to be. Or maybe it was because it seemed wherever he
looked, people were, for the most part, unhappy with their lot in life whether
it be their job, their health, or with their current relationship. Actually – optimism was harder; it took much
more energy.
So it was with this outlook, Jack found himself in the
Hallmark Store searching for just the right card for his 14th
anniversary. All he could find were the
mushy ones. His marriage was fine, two
adorable children, a decent job, and a relationship of shared responsibilities. But it wasn’t perfect . . . because in the
eyes of a cynic, there’s no such thing!
Jack spied a cartoonish one with the punchline: “You Complete Me. Happy Anniversary!”
What crap, he thought.
The $4.50 price tag seemed rather high for an elementary school drawing
on mass-produced paper followed by five simple words, at least two of which
required no thinking at all. When did
cards get so expensive . . . and insincere?
As he continued scanning racks of mindless cards, an elderly
man with a guide dog shuffled in and eventually found the greeting card
aisle. He randomly picked out a card, held
it extremely close to his face and struggled to read it.
Just as Jack was about to settle for a passable card, a teenaged
girl walked over to the visually impaired gentleman. “Excuse me sir, I’m Allison, may I help you
read some of these?” she said with a considerate tone.
“Oh that would be very nice dear, thank you,” he said.
She then proceeded to read him almost every single greeting
card out loud until the elderly man smiled and said, “That’s perfect! My wife will love that one!”
Jack stuffed his pitifully bland card back in the rack, and
picked out one tenderly heartfelt. With
a loving hand he began, “Amore Mio!
(Italian for My Love!) He had learned
two valuable lessons today – one from each end of the age range. Her kindness - his enthusiasm, inspired Jack
in a way that even a cynic couldn’t resist.
Optimism helps maintain both our enthusiasm and forward
momentum even in the face of disappointments and setbacks. Like measles, mumps and the common cold, optimism
is highly contagious. Infect others with
your positivity and when you’ve filled your heart with hope and gladness, share
your optimism with others. They'll be
better for it and so will you. But not
necessarily in that order.
My God, You are the ultimate optimist. Help us catch the disease of optimism by always
exposing ourselves to the right ‘germs’ of thought. Remind us that we have every reason to be
optimistic about life here on earth and life eternal. Amen
