The Big Picture: Confidence

by

Practicing Faith

Oboedire | July 15, 2026

Thanks to a reference by Matthew Fox in one of his daily meditations, I connected with a book I wish I had known about sooner, Beatrice Bruteau’s Radical Optimism. Originally published in 1993 with a second edition issued in 2002, her first sentence reeled me in,

“The more troubled and difficult the world becomes, the more important it becomes to be optimistic.”

From that point on, she unpacks what she means, making clear that the key word is radical—that is, an optimism which emerges from the root of Reality. With prophetic realism Bruteau shows why optimism cannot be found in circumstances, particularly those which are obviously deformative and dangerous. But here’s the point: optimism is in its truest sense is never circumstantial.

So by this point, I’m hooked. Bruteau has linked for me the idea of optimism with the writer of Hebrews’ definition of faith: things not seen; things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). In both views, we discover that we have to find Reality in something deeper than “what’s happening now.’ We live in the present moment but we do not live by it—which I think is what Jesus meant when he said we are in the world but not of it (John 17:14-16).

Radical optimism calls for another set of eyes and ears, what Jesus called eyes that see and ears that hear (Mark 8:18)—that is, senses that see into, through, and beyond what the media chooses to report, coming to perceive our existence as something more than what some tout as “the good life.” The problem with the world’s view of “the high life” is that it is not high enough. Radical optimism envisions a sacred “something more” and calls us to concentrate our attention on it (

But seeing “the heavenly vision” is not escapism; it is igniting the flame of love that gives us the will and the means to love God, others, and to treat everyone as we wish to be treated. In this sense, radical optimism is counter intuitive (to egotism),  and counter cultural (to “the kingdoms of this world”).

Back to Bruteau, the vision begins to be realized in us when we engage our wills and make use of the means that create and sustain abundant living. Contemplation is the one-word for this—the attentiveness that leads to congruence so that the vision and the visionary are one, what Paul meant when he said, “for me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).

Radical optimism is the spirit that’s called for in us when the foundations are shaking and when we have more than enough reasons to throw in the towel and call it quits. I think we are experiencing what Jesus did when he looked at the imperialism in his day and had to “go high” when so much of the world was “going low.” When we ask how he kept going, the words radical optimism surely describe his stamina—the Spirit-infused conviction that God, not “the principalities and powers” do not have the last word.

This is where I want to end this “Big Picture” series. The final word is God. We speak it with confidence. Full stop.

The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is a retired seminary professor who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of more than fifty books.. He is also a retired elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.