Tower and Town, February 2018

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Clergy Letter: An Optimistic View

I have heard on more than one occasion in my ten years in the UK that there are few things less palatable to the British psyche than the syrupy ‘can-do’, chronic positivity of North Americans that always insists on finding something good even in the midst of the maelstrom, and which then, even worse, goes on to state aloud this hope and optimism directly, without any tempering dash of irony. But I wonder if British tastes might be changing.

Considering the intensity of the challenges brought by 2017, on New Year’s Day the headline of The Times read, ‘Britons Upbeat About Jobs and House Prices’. The poll that drew this conclusion suggests that ‘More than half the population think that their personal financial situation will stay the same or improve over the next year’. If this ends up to be true then what a wonderful and prophetic forecast from the ‘more than half’. I wonder if this flagrant example of such buoyant optimism is indicative of a sociological shift that sees more people embracing a spirit of hope in a manner less veiled than in the past. Or maybe one shouldn’t read The Times with an American literal-mindedness.

You might join me, though, in finding the words of Barack Obama helpful as we look ahead at the upcoming year, and wonder what it might bring. In an interview on Radio 4, conducted by Prince Harry in Toronto, Obama said: ‘All the problems we face are solvable despite all the terrible news that you see. If you had to choose a moment in human history in which you’d want to be born you’d choose today, because the fact is that the world is healthier, wealthier, better educated and more tolerant, more sophisticated and less violent.’

I shared the President’s positive message in my opening address to the students at Marlborough College as they began a new term and the New Year. Because I know that like attracts like. Young people are, to a larger extent than their older counterparts, chronically positive, deeply hopeful and optimistic about the change they can effect in their world. As I suspected, they very much liked what Obama had to say to Prince Harry.

Dare I say that these are traits expected to be exhibited by those who profess themselves followers of Christ. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes encouragingly to such as these: ‘Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward.’ That confidence comes from an inner sense that, in the words of Julian of Norwich, ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well.’ We can say this through the power of faith which is, again in Hebrews, ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’

All that remains for a wonderful 2018 for us all, is that we act on what we hope for and make it a reality. We need to embrace a ‘can-do’ attitude, even if it smacks at times of the syrupy. If we allow ourselves to fall victim to a resignation that plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, then we should hang up our ice-hockey skates, take our puck and go home, because that too can become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Tim Novis