Nellie Forbush and Pollyanna Whittier Were Right

“A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil.” – C.H. Spurgeon

During my lifetime, I have been called everything from a cock-eyed optimist to a Pollyanna. The first reference comes from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Broadway hit musical South Pacific and the second from Eleanor Porter’s classic children’s book published in 1913.

In South Pacific, Ensign Nellie Forbush, a Navy nurse from Arkansas, sings the following lines…

When the sky is a bright canary yellow, I forget ev’ry cloud I’ve ever seen
So they call me a cock-eyed optimist, immature and incurably green

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow, that we’re done and we might as well be dead
But I’m only a cock-eyed optimist, and I can’t get it into my head

Likewise, in Eleanor Porter’s book, the title character is an 11-year-old orphan named Pollyanna Whittier who goes to live with her wealthy – but cold and stern – spinster aunt in the fictional town of Beldingsville, VT. Her Aunt Polly Harrington really doesn’t want Pollyanna there, but feels an obligation to her deceased sister, Pollyanna’s mother. However, Pollyanna refuses to be dragged down by Aunt Polly’s negativism, choosing instead to play “The Glad Game” that her father had taught her. The Glad Game only has one rule: to find something to be glad about in every situation, no matter how bleak it may be.

My brother recently told me that in addition to being part German, part English, part Scottish, and part Irish, our family also has some Nordic roots. “Any surname ending in ‘ing’ has a Viking origin,” he said. “It simply means ‘the people who.’ And so, Glading means ‘the people who are glad.’”

In that case, I think Nellie Forbush and Pollyanna Whittier must be part Viking, too! So must Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” who wrote the following…

“Samson’s lion yielded honey, and so will our adversities, if rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds multitudes with its fish; the wild wood blooms with beautiful flowers; the stormy wind sweeps away disease, and the biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distill bright drops, and black earth grows lovely flowers.”

“Faith’s way of walking is to cast all care upon the Lord, and then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like Gideon’s men, she does not fret over the broken pitcher but rejoices that the lamp shines with even more brilliance. Out of the rough oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts the rare pearl of honor, and from the deep ocean-caves of distress she discovers the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity ebbs, she finds treasures hidden in the sands; and when her sun of delight goes down, she turns her telescope of hope to the starry promises of heaven. When death itself appears, faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave.”

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President