Ambition

Don't you love it when you read or watch something for the umpteenth time and notice something different?  To me, that's kind of THE test of the quality of a book or movie, that not only do I find it deserving of experiencing multiple times, but that it speaks to me differently at different times, and new things capture my attention or make me think of something in an unexpected way.  It's like an old friend you see for the first time in many years--there's the beautiful familiarity of the relationship as it was, coupled with the life each experienced in the intervening years, and the accompanying maturity each has achieved.  

My reading today did that for me.  The last three weeks have been hard.  Watching insecurity manifest itself in self-centered power grabbing and metaphorical kneeling on the necks of the already-oppressed has left me starving for reason, for peace, for justice.  Ambition joined to competition, greed, and aggression is simply exhausting to watch, and my emotions range from disheartened to absolutely terrified as I consider the consequences of what I'm seeing in the news.

But today, I read about a different kind of ambition.  I found myself being encouraged to "make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully" (1 Thessalonians 4:11, AMP).  I had to read the passage twice, even though I've read it many times over the years, because that phrase was so unexpected.  An ambition to be quiet and peaceful?  That's quite an oxymoron.  Of course I realize that ambition isn't always negative, but very often it is the antithesis to quiet and peace.  Ambition by definition is going after something one doesn't have, and peace and quiet are often linked to being content with what one already has.  So, I'm to strive for contentment.  To labor for peace.  To hustle for quiet.  (Aren't thesauruses fun?)  It's only when my ambition is for such things that I can be happy.  Just take a look at the faces on TV these days--do any of them look happy?  Do they look satisfied?  Can they enjoy quiet and peace?  

I am truly saddened by the state of affairs in our world, and particularly in the country of my birth and citizenship.  But I am also saddened that people have chosen ambition for things outside of themselves, at the expense of their hearts and souls, at the expense of their quiet and peace.  My friends (and if you're my reader, you're my friend), my wish for you today is that you will seek peace and quiet.  Make it your ambition.  Maybe if enough of us strive for quiet and work for peace, we can counteract the other kind of ambition that leaves us angry, exhausted, and dissatisfied. 

Peace

Peace

Peace

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