Transformation in the Land Between

Letters For the Land Between

First Letter

Inspired by Carey Nieuwhoff's Didn't See It Coming

On Cynicism

Dear Georges, you asked me in your prayers about the sense of cynicism growing in you. I trust my answers will help you understand your own heart. As a young man, your optimism was infectious (I loved that about you). Realism came next, and now you wonder about the creep of cynicism. You must guard your heart against it. From your heart flows your life. Cynicism is no way to live. It’s a mask for the gloom you feel. A. A. Milne captured this mask in Christopher Robin’s nail in the tail stuffed donkey, Eeyore, in Winnie the Pooh. Too many have betrayed your trust. You’ve seen the innocent suffer, media false news, government promising and not delivering, children begging for bread, and an invisible virus shutting down the greatest nation. Society is not improving despite the churches. American cynicism is settling in with its motto: In Nobody We Trust! What’s the point of trying?

The Bible I gave has people who guarded their hearts against cynicism. I myself taught to forgive without limits when Peter cynically asked: “How many times should I forgive?” Dying on a cross can turn you into a cynic! I didn’t let it. New Life is bigger than cross and tomb. My apostles served tirelessly despite the complaints from Greeks and Jews. My apostle Paul invested his life in the likes of Demas. They abandoned him. We kept ourselves from the creep of cynicism!

Here’s a few things you need to know about cynicism and why you may not see it coming. In future letters I will guide you practically on how to deal with and overcome it.

You now have seen and heard and know too much about human nature. And this knowing brings waves of sorrow with it. You have weighed human nature in the scales of history, and you have found it wanting. You’re no cynic because you don’t care. Cynicism creeps in because you still care about helping others and serving me. Don’t give in, like Eeyore, Georges. Cultivate hope! (more on that in later letters). I know the hurt of disappointment is real. But guard your heart from knowing too much about human nature. Don’t let that drive you to cynicism!

You also need to guard your heart from letting the past predict the future. It’s true some people don’t seem to change. Ever. No matter how much you help. Guarding your heart from past behavior predicting future behavior is hard to do. Your heart is vulnerable from hurt and pain. Without me the past will be the future. Our Team of Three is working round the clock keeping the past from crouching in on the future. Join us.

Then, decide to trust, hope and believe. These please me. The cynic in you wants to stop hoping and believing and being loving. Don’t give in. I will be your teacher and guide. Keep your heart open. You know prodigal sons and daughters have come home. You’ve seen the worst of people become the best of people, the worst of times become the best of times, sinners turn into saints. Keep hoping. My friend John was exiled to Patmos. Every day he kept his mind and his heart on things above: the good, the beautiful, the things of good repute, the advancement of the gospel of the kingdom. He conquered cynicism. I received him as a faithful servant pleasing to me.

Georges, I am standing at the door of your heart. Do you hear the knock? Let me in. I am cynicism’s biggest foe and your biggest fan. In my next letter, I will teach you to nip cynicism in the bud when it comes. Don’t give up or give in.

Signed: King Jesus!