At times in my life I have been called a Pollyanna. A Pollyanna is someone who is excessively optimistic, always looking for the good in people or situations, even when things are difficult. Though this can be taken as a compliment, more often than not, it carries a negative connotation. A Pollyanna is often perceived as naive, overly idealistic, or unwilling to acknowledge conflict, injustice and difficult realities.
Today I am choosing to see the good in people as an act of courage and something I wish we would all do more often. I actually think that seeing the good in people and situations is an act of faith, and a sign of hope and love. But I have been reflecting on whether there is a difference between believing that people are good and believing that people are capable of goodness. Think about how Jesus dealt with people who could be selfish, cruel, dishonest, and afraid. Even when he experienced betrayal, rejection, and conflict, Jesus continued to invite people into a different way of living. Jesus didn't pretend that people were always kind, generous, or loving. He knew that people could cause tremendous harm. And yet, he continued to call them into relationship, challenging them to become something more than what their fears, prejudices, or past mistakes had made them.
Perhaps this is what faith asks of us. Not to believe that everyone is good, but to believe that no one is necessarily finished becoming who they might be. This thought gives me hope, and I know in my heart of hearts that it is extremely difficult. The truth is, conflict is everywhere. People bump into each other's lives like atoms in the body. We are constantly interacting, sometimes connecting, sometimes colliding, and sometimes pushing one another away. It is hard to avoid humanity! And in the words of Desmond Tutu, "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
But what happens when being human together becomes exhausting? What happens when we grow tired of the arguments, the criticism, the suspicion, and the endless need for someone to be right and someone else to be wrong? I wonder whether one of the greatest dangers of living in a world filled with conflict is not simply that we stop getting along, but that we stop believing in one another. We begin to define people by their worst moments. We reduce them to their opinions, their mistakes, their political positions, or the ways they have disappointed us. And before long, we are no longer encountering human beings. We are encountering the stories we have already decided are true about them.
Jesus repeatedly challenged this way of seeing the world. When Jesus encountered Zacchaeus, he saw more than a dishonest tax collector. When Peter denied him, Jesus did not allow that betrayal to define their relationship. Jesus recognized people's capacity for change, without ignoring their actions or the harm they caused. His love invited both transformation and accountability. Perhaps this is where my understanding of being a Pollyanna needs to grow. Seeing the good in others doesn't mean ignoring injustice, accepting harmful behaviour, or avoiding difficult conversations. It means believing that people are capable of becoming more than who they are today.
As we move into November, I wonder whether the challenge is not to eliminate conflict, but to refuse to let it destroy our hope in one another. Can we acknowledge our differences without allowing them to define our relationships? Can we believe in the possibility of change, even when it seems unlikely? Maybe I am a Pollyanna after all. But I would rather hold onto the possibility of transformation than accept that division is inevitable. Perhaps that is what faith calls us to do: to see the world as it is, while believing, through God's love, in what it might yet become. Blessings Rev. Karen