Volume 6, Issue 7, March 1997

THE QUEST FOR THE BEST

Everyones life is spent in the pursuit of self-fulfilment, but not everyone reaches their objective. The person who succeeds is one who has realized in time that satisfaction does not come into being from being good at something, but also from being a certain kind of person.

Self-awareness is a most valued character asset. Among our weaknesses are our strong traits. By focusing on these good qualities we may find the courage to start developing our own styles. We begin to accept our true selves.

The trick is to increasingly come to know ourselves, who we are, what we want, and what our capabilities and limitations are.

Usually then we are not content to dedicate our lives to small purposes. We create quality in our ambitions. We start exercising our vital powers to accomplish our determined goals.

I remember when I was a high school student who rode his bicycle from the farm to the high school in the city environment. I was shy, inadequate, and had so much to learn. My English teacher asked me to give, along with the other students, an oral composition. I was frightened speechless and couldn't address the class. She kindly allowed me to give my speech to her alone after school in her office. She coached me and gave me some confidence in myself. I later determined to master public speaking and with no small effort become a public speaker. In this regard this teacher started me on the road to success.

To seek quality in ones life and work calls for a substantial motive. Such a motive needs to be a sincere, deeply felt urge to find meaning in life and your own part in that meaning. Without such a goal life becomes drab and humdrum. The person seeking the best lifts their head above the crowd to see a horizon fitting their abilities. They push themselves up from colourless mediocrity toward excellence.

This, of course, requires we develop a sense of the true value of things. A sense of values is a personal thing, not to be measured by the metrestick common to all humanity. We can learn to tell truth from falsehood, fact from opinion,the real from the fake, and the beautiful from the tawdry. We become conscious of the quality of things.

What we are thinking about here is the building of character. Character (integrity) is a positive thing. It is not protected innocence, but practiced virtue; it is not fear of weakness, but love of merit. We find we have our own laws and court to judge us, and these persuade us to do what we would like to be. As Shakespeare said:

"...to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to anyone."

Such a person knows what they are here for. There are certain things one has to believe in, or civilization will die. There are permanent truths which, though they have their roots in the far past, are important for the present. We come to recognize the dignity of duty, fairness, sympathy, co-operation, justice, and all the things that make life good and a decent society possible.

Today our society is facing moral challenges of great magnitude. Corporatism threatens democracy. Fascist style government in Ontario walks roughshod over the citizens in the pursuit of a selfish ideology. A spirit of selfishness and meanness is growing.

We must recognize that evil does not just happen. It is not the work of blind, neutral forces. People perpetuate it of their own free will, and other people acquiese to it allowing it to go on. How we all live up to our responsibilities as members of society and community has a direct bearing on the future.

Christianity, along with other religions (ie Judaism, Islam, Baha'i, Buddhism, Taoism, to mention some), recognizes the importance of love and human association as the path to the good life, both for individuals and for society as a whole. The responsibility is not to feed the deserving hungry, or the industrious hungry, or the amiable and well-intentioned hungry, but simply to feed the hungry.

In our search to become our best there is a need to develop a spirit of great-mindedness. We need to take note of debts of honour. We owe so much to those who have contributed to our being where we are today. We will then thankfully do all we can to help and upbuild others.

Each life is a new continent to be explored, developed, and made fruitful in good works. However, it must be understood that so-called good works are not even good unless motivated by disinterested love. Love and justice have become part and parcel of that person's being. It is part of their religion now. It reveals the ultimate commitment of a person's life.

Do not be afraid of the quest for the best. Then you will learn with enthusiasm what you need to perform your role; you will discipline your impulses to keep them from getting in the way of wise action; you will do what you do with high standards.

Search Articles by Keyword

 


Back to Issue Summary || Issue Index || Home

"Religion NOW" is published in limited edition by the Rev. Ross E. Readhead, B.A., B.D., Certificate of Corrections, McMaster University, in the interest of furthering knowledge and participation in religion. Dialogue is invited and welcomed.