citizen of the whole

I'm seeing life increasingly through a lens of my contribution toward goodness, life, and grace and then my efforts that take away from these things. I'm only one life, just like any of us. And I want my life to be given toward positive contributions of the whole. That's the way of Jesus of Nazareth, whom I'm patterning my life after. So it seems to me that being a citizen of the whole is a choice that you can't assume. And it's the path I've chosen to follow.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Aspiration, Yes. Ambition, No.

"Aspiration is an impatience with mediocrity, and a dissatisfaction with all things created until we are at home with the Creator, the hopeful striving for the best God has for us." - Eugene Peterson
Human beings are the kinds of creatures that are meant to pursue. That's the way we're wired. Striving is nearly as much a human way as breathing. I see it in my son Conor's relentless curiosity at nearly two years old. The great question of our pursuits is, "What is driving them? Aspiration is a God-given installation in the human psysche. In pursuit of God's best for us it yeilds satisfaction, love, and goodness. Eyes removed from Creator-God are driven by personal ambitions of power, wealth, fame, and other trappings. Human ambition is a dangerous and wreckless force that seeks to build little fifedoms as personal tributes to the will of self.
As I read the San Francisco Examiner this morning I saw plenty of ambition. The Giants lost the NL West title to the Dodgers, as well as their shot at the wild card slot. There is a power struggle between progressives and moderates over the SF school board in thier efforts to oust the current superintendent. Our city supervisors are throwing their weight around as they try to make a name for themselves in the image their constiuency will like. And that's all before even commenting on the Presidential race! Ambition is pursuit apart from God - selfish pursuits. Aspiration is pursuit of God's best. They lead to very different destinations.
Aspiration brings no less driveness to the table. But what you are pursuing is certainly different than ambition. Aspiration centered in Jesus and his ways is all over the place. One need only open his eyes to see it. Long ago an itinerant preacher and follower of Jesus named Paul said these words of his own pursuits:
"By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running and I'm not turning back." Philippians 3:13-14 (The Message)
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