Is "Authenticity" at Odds with a "Positive Outlook?"

In response to yesterday's post on luck, John West responded: 

Hey Dave,
Interesting post. I've recently had a few conversations about luck,and perspective. I've even thought some about perspective in the story of Eden. When the humans perceive shortage (and God as stingy) actual shortage is the eventual outcome (of course there is more going on, but I think it is fascinating that they perceive God and the good garden as somehow stingy and then - post fall - the ground does actually become stingy).

I'm far from advocating the power of positive thinking, but still I do think there is something quite powerful about perspective as this Psychology Today article points out: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201005/make-your-own-luck

I think that the perspective God is with us and God is good while certainly not guaranteeing "good luck" will give us a perspective that will make us more likely to notice happy circumstances.

I'm all for choosing a positive rather than negative perspective, and I think John might have it exactly right when he says that, at the very least, that will make us more likely to notice happy circumstances.  And I really like his defining of his terms--"the perspective that God is with us and God is good" as opposed to "the power of positive thinking."  Seems right on to me.  But, provocateurs that we are in this space, let me then talk about what John is touching on but expressly NOT talking about. 

The connection of a positive outlook to faith strikes me as a uniquely American contribution to religion, if one that's now been exported widely.

There are two variants which have had their day, if I'm remembering.  One is the usually-reviled-in-my-circles "prosperity gospel" which argues that, in effect, a positive outlook towards God will bring us riches.  There's a strong secular version of this with books like The Secret and The Laws of Attraction which pitch that "thoughts are things" (I'm thinking we've talked about this, but who has the time to actually go back and discover if that's true?) and that, if we send positivity out into the universe, it's a universal law that positivity (and good stuff) will come back our way.  Conversely, if we send out negativity, that's what we'll get back.  So we need to be very, very careful about our thought life.  (And, one would think, this says that if we don't like the circumstances of our lives, we're to blame.  After all, this stuff is a "law," so it should always work.)

The milder--though still-related--version of this would be in the lineage of Norman Vincent Peale, Robert Schuller and Joel Osteen.  In this take, "the power of positive thinking" doesn't have quite the same oomph as a "law" and there's not such a direct link to riches (though that link does pop up on occasion).  But a positive outlook most definitely is key to a good life and to connecting with God.

So I'm of two minds.  Again, I agree with John that there's something there--at the very least in his far more nuanced take.  You could make a case that what he's talking about would be a synonym for "faith," for believing that God is at work even when circumstances are not, at present, agreeable. 

But this also seems to take us back to last week's conversation about authenticity--in that this seems like the polar opposite of authenticity.  By definition.  Authenticity, as discussed last week at least, relates to not denying our pain.  A positive outlook at all times seems remarkably related to putting on a happy face, no matter what.

So I have a proposal that's no doubt glib in this circle.  Is it possible that a crude take on positive thinking fits great in Stage 2.  A crude take on the ultimate value of authenticity fits great in Stage 3.  And then perhaps Stage 4 offers a kind of transcendant take on both--that God very much IS with us at all times, good and bad, and that that's great news and a source of real encouragement even as there's no need to deny what our lying eyes are telling us about our circumstances.  (To explain the lying eyes reference: I believe that has roots back to an old joke.  Wife catches her husband in bed with another woman.  He replies: Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?  If our "lying eyes" tell us our circumstances are challenging, in Stage 4 perhaps there's a way in which we both don't need to deny that and can still connect with the very-present God in those very circumstances.)

What do you think?  Can "authenticity" live in the same world as "a positive outlook" or are they sworn enemies?