The Book of Joy

Neither man was asking us to look at the world through rose-colored
glasses or to not see the world with anything but a searingly honest view.
The Archbishop even discouraged people from being optimistic.
“You’ve spoken, Archbishop, very powerfully, about how hope is not
the same as optimism. Could you tell us a little bit about the distinction
you make?”
“Hope,” the Archbishop said, “is quite different from optimism, which
is more superficial and liable to become pessimism when the
circumstances change. Hope is something much deeper.
“I mentioned earlier about Chris Hani, whose assassination occurred
at a very critical point in the negotiations for a new, democratic South
Africa. We were on the edge of a precipice. It was so serious that the then
president, the white president of South Africa, F. W. de Klerk, asked
Nelson Mandela to address the nation.
“That incident could have caused the collapse of the negotiations, but
it didn’t, in fact. We were fortunate that we had someone like Nelson
Mandela.
“Now, if you had been an optimist, you would have said, Well, the
assassination of Chris Hani is really the end of everything. What made
people want to go on going on—holding on by the skin of their teeth—
was not optimism but hope—dogged, inextinguishable hope.
“I say to people that I’m not an optimist, because that, in a sense, is
something that depends on feelings more than the actual reality. We feel
optimistic, or we feel pessimistic. Now, hope is different in that it is
based not on the ephemerality of feelings but on the firm ground of
conviction. I believe with a steadfast faith that there can never be a
situation that is utterly, totally hopeless. Hope is deeper and very, very
close to unshakable. It’s in the pit of your tummy. It’s not in your head.
It’s all here,” he said, pointing to his abdomen.
“Despair can come from deep grief, but it can also be a defense
against the risks of bitter disappointment and shattering heartbreak.
Resignation and cynicism are easier, more self-soothing postures that do
not require the raw vulnerability and tragic risk of hope. To choose hope
is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one’s chest to the