Neither Earnestness Nor Cynicism

Dallas is an earnest city. It wants to do good and to do well. If you’re familiar with the New Testament, Dallas is the rich young ruler; eager to please and a little too enamored by its own effort. You see this characteristic displayed at 6:45 am in coffee shops across North Texas. I know this because that is when I drop off my wife at the hospital for her shift and stop for a cup of coffee. Every time I do this, I encounter young people who are dutifully reading their bible, preparing for the day, or meeting someone for networking. Except for the bible reading, it could be anywhere else in the country. But the exercise seems somehow more performative than in any other city I’ve lived in. The term that comes to mind is earnestness.  

Earnestness has elements of both genuineness and striving mixed in. This is partly youth, partly the cultural context, and partly a genuine desire to be a good person. I see my younger self in these earnest people, and I want to warn them. “All your striving will not keep you safe. Danger in its many forms will not be kept at bay.”  

But cynicism is not the answer either. I’m not old yet, but no one would mistake me for young either. I’m old enough to feel the pull into a jaundiced way of looking at the world. It is so easy to replay the tapes from hurtful conversations than to listen to the person in front of you. The pull to gorge on negative news and disaster scenarios is ever-present. It is oddly tempting to protect yourself by diminishing one’s feelings though one of the many mechanisms our current entertainment culture provides. If earnestness is the challenge of the young, cynicism is the trap of aging.  

Wisdom is not the fruit of mere earnestness – it's too flimsy to meet the realities of existence. Nor is cynicism the answer. Conversely, it is too brittle to bear the weight of life’s complexities. Wisdom is the only answer. But what is it and how is it obtained? 

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Summary: 

Wisdom is chosen over the options of earnestness and cynicism. It is cultivated through experience, suffering, and humility.