Avoiding cynicism

Are you torn between optimism and pessimism about the world ?...and particularly the people in it ?. You are not alone .GK Chesterton in writing about one of the world's most joyful and effective people creators in fiction said this about  Dickens;
" The world can be made beautiful again by beholding it as a battlefield"
the only antidote he and we note to false optimism and joyless approval of ALL  is "a sudden and pugnacious belief in positive evil" .
Dickens didn't put evil in his characters because he wanted to create character but because  evil in character is a real and present danger .   There are reasons to fear - know them better \

Copyright Emperors Academy  4th April 2016

How do you feel about yourself ?

• Feel very Alone at times? Sure we ALL feel and KNOW that to be true .  Part of the wonder of being unique-- you know . You are like no one else and neither am I 
• Feel Insecure . Everyone has some form of insecurity, so don't feel alone because you are not alone there . We all have different things to " worry about " in that regard ,Besides a wekeness can be an opportnity  Stevie wonder can't see but doesn't  he inspire  beautifully 
• Feel ugly or unfit  ?  This is probably the hardest thing because we all are prone to feel this AND hang this feeling onto others( project it) . You have been created unique . You may be more handsome or less handsome than your parents,  and your kids will be the same .
  Should you worry about passing some genetic traits  onto your children ?
  Who says you are unfit anyway ? - only mere men . Many days we wanna ask God why he allowed us to be the way we are ; One day I think we will understand why and won't need to be told why , but its not Today . Today is , it seems to me , for adventures in faith .
• Feel overwhelmed . The depth of the challenge is often far greater than YOU alone can manage . Need some help ? Think Hebrew  - you have been given a big job  , so have I . Why does it never rain but it pours ? 
• Feeling not sure about what you should do ? Follow that dream . 

"The circumstances of your life have uniquely qualified you to make a contribution . And if you don't make that contribution , nobody else can make it " Rabbi Harold S Kushner

Also you might like to read  G K Chesterton's chapter on "Flag of the World"  in ORTHODOXY

You hava gooday now !