On Cynicism

Posted on Thursday, July 16, 2009 in Holistic Living, Transformation | No Comments

It may not come as a surprise that I am prone to a bit of cynicism. I love parodies.  I watch the Onion News Network and the Daily Show.  I love Christopher Guest movies. I’ve learned to keep it from showing most of the time, but I can roll my eyeballs with the skill of a 13 year old girl who has just been told she’s wearing too much make-up.

There is something satisfying about a little cynicism. It allows me to mock those things I disapprove of with biting wit. It places me above the object of my scorn and thus feeds my ego. It provides a safe place to hide from things I fear and protects me from vulnerability or exposure. It insulates me from being hurt again by ideas and/or people that have burned me in the past. It allows me to eschew the effort of respect or reconciliation.

Cynicism often has honest origins. We become cynical when our idealism crashes into painful reality. We become cynical when we stop believing in the goodness of things because we’ve seen the ugly beneath the veneer. We become cynical when our best hopes are disappointed, when people we love and respect fail us, when promises are broken.

At the point where our naïveté meets hard reality, cynicism creeps in. Admittedly, a touch of cynicism can protect us from being taken advantage of.  And a touch of cynicism makes for some great comedy. But while a bit may be useful, a bit more becomes a powerful spiritual poison, marinated in negativity and sweetened with pride. It’s a contagious social disease that can infect families, communities, and even generations of people.

Some of my more cynical friends have been getting on my nerves lately. But even as I feel turned off by their cynical expressions, they have reflected as if in a mirror my own biting negativity.

I am tiring of my cynicism.

The other day I watched a group of children watching an amateur magic show. The magician was only so-so and his antics were less than original. When I felt my eyeballs starting to roll upward I looked at the children. The kids were engrossed in his little show, and their wonder and innocence convicted me. When I look at my own kids, cynicism is not a character trait I want to pass on to them. Perhaps this is partly what Jesus meant when he said that we must become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God .

I’m learning that there are other options besides gullible naiveté and sneering cynicism. There is a wisdom infused with humility that is able to embrace goodness, faith, and mystery with neither foolishness nor negativity. It is wise because it recognizes the truth about brokenness and ugliness and pain.  It is humble because it refuses to judge others who seem not to notice those things. My prayer is to grow in humble wisdom while laying down my biting cynicism.

Add Your Comments...