Forgive me for my optimism
Towards the end of 2008 Fr
Michael was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Even for someone who has
spent the best part of his life reflecting on the human condition, Fr Michael
still struggles to make sense of his illness. In a series of articles he
reflects theologically on what it means to be ill.
How
is it possible to remain upbeat and optimistic when it is clear to everyone
else that your life holds no promise?
One
answer to this question is offered by the science of Evolutionary Psychology. I
have to confess that I had not heard of this discipline until I chatted to a
member of the congregation in one of my former churches. Evolutionary
Psychology was the subject of her doctoral thesis. It is not surprising,
therefore, that she was an enthusiast.
Her
Big Idea was that evolution has
equipped us to be optimists. Just as the evolutionary process has given us
large brains, strong muscles and keen eyes in order to survive in a competitive
world, so evolution has favoured those with an optimistic outlook.
If
we were all coldly rational about our prospects in the world, we would agree
with the philosopher Thomas Hobbes who declared that human life is
"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." If we truly believed that,
we would probably all behave like lemmings and cast ourselves in droves over
the nearest precipitous cliff. End of
Homo Sapiens.
Instead,
as a survival strategy, evolution has equipped us to spread a rosy glow over
the tribulations of normal life. We pay more attention to good fortune than to
bad luck. We cling onto the signs of hope while dismissing the fears of
catastrophe. We are psychologically more inclined to see a glass as half full than
half empty.
Of
course, in any generation, an individual can buck the evolutionary trend.
Everyone's life is a mixture of success and failure, hope and despair,
generosity and bitterness. No matter how fortunate an individual may be in
life, it is always possible to dismiss the blessings and inflate the problems.
Some
people are unfortunate in the hand that life deals them. It is the lot of some
people to suffer more than others. Nevertheless, I still believe that it is
possible to choose to face life optimistically rather than pessimistically.
Speaking
personally, it may be that I have been the lucky beneficiary of an evolutionary
process. Perhaps I am simply fortunate to ride the crest of the evolutionary
wave that favours an optimistic outlook over pessimism as a survival strategy.
But,
for me, there is also a religious reasons for optimism – despite the severity
of my physical decline and the limited nature of my prospects. I find cause for
optimism in the Christian hope that stands at the heart of my life. Despite the
pessimism that (I know) ought to result from suffering from motor neurone
disease, I prefer an optimistic outlook built upon the love of God. When that
is real, it puts all my troubles in a different context.