The term, “Pollyanna” refers to Pollyanna, the 1913 novel by Eleanor H.
Porter, developed into the 1960 film by Disney Studios, starring Hayley Mills. In the film, Pollyanna is a 12 year-old
orphaned girl, who arrives in the small town of Harrington to be adopted by her
aunt. As the story unfolds, Pollyanna
captivates and transforms the town with her sunny optimism and the “glad game”
which her father taught her before his death.
The point of the “glad game” is to find something to be glad about in
even the saddest and most disappointing circumstances. The game is basically the attitude of finding
a “silver lining in every cloud.”
As noted, “Pollyanna” is caricatured
in popular culture for ungrounded and naïve optimism. However, this caricature overlooks the
context of Pollyanna’s philosophy. Pollyanna’s
joy and optimism are firmly rooted within the context of her Christian
faith. This becomes clear in the climactic
scene in the film, when Pollyanna and the village pastor have a one-on-one
conversation. In the scene, Pollyanna
explains that she always tries to look for the good in people. Further, she claims that there are 800 verses
in the Bible that call upon the faithful to rejoice and be glad. So, she concludes, that many repetitions
about rejoicing and being glad must mean that it is very important to God.
In Philippians 4: 4-9, the Apostle Paul confirms Pollyanna’s
basic philosophy. Paul writes, “Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
Then, he offers them a blessing, “And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In my blogs and in my Sunday sermons over the
past four weeks, I have been exploring the distinctive characteristics that
make the Christian lifestyle distinctive from other ways of living. We conclude our exploration this week by
looking at Christian joy and optimism.
Joy and optimism should permeate our
lives as Christians, just as with Pollyanna.
But, in saying this, it is important to add that our joy and optimism are
not groundless or naïve, as sometimes depicted in the caricature. No.
Instead, they are grounded in the context of our faith—and, our belief
that God loves us and will care for us.
As Paul frames it in his letter to the Philippines, “The Lord is
near. Do not worry about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. …and the peace of God
will be with you.”
Come, join us this Sunday, as we explore what it means to put our faith
and trust so completely in God that we can live with the joy, hope, and
optimism of Pollyanna. Afterall, Pollyanna
got it right. Our church is
located at the corner of Main and Dawson Streets in Meriden, Kansas. Our classic worship service starts at 10 am
on Sunday mornings.
Everyone is welcome and accepted because
God loves us all.
Thank you for writing this.
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