OVER- AMBITION TAKES AWAY THE CHARM OF LIFE

There is a by-story of pigs being possessed by the evil spirit in the man who was healed by Jesus. A small pig was running along and asked a ‘silly question’ to the older pig running with it: “Why are we running so fast?”  The answer was “I don’t know, but everyone is running so also us.” The next question was, “Where are we running to?” and the answer was, “you silly, don’t ask questions, just run along with others.” The end was drowning in the sea.  (If you are not familiar with the story, may I suggest you to read:        St. Matthew 8: 30-32)

             

We are so entangled in the rat-race of life that we are not permitted to ask the ‘why’ and ‘where’ and end up with the inevitable and ultimate fate of our race in life. As generations go by, the pressure on life is increasing.  I still remember my teacher saying in the High School class: “Student life is the best time for you to enjoy life. Once you reach the arena of life – from looking for a job to building your career, family etc. - you cannot escape the pressures of life”  I don’t think any teacher will say this even to a 3 year old in the Nursery Class. Words such as ‘learn’, ‘excel’, ‘compete’, ‘defeat the other’, ‘grab the opportunity ignoring the other’ etc. are pumped into the brain of the child. The child is expected to ‘learn’ and ‘only learn’.  

The whole society is injecting ambition in us. As someone has put it, “Ambition means a conflict, ambition means that whatsoever you are, you are wrong - you have to be somewhere else.  Wherever you are, you are wrong - you have to be somewhere else.  A constant madness to be somewhere else, to be somebody else, is what ambition is.”  Ambition in life has no limits and the end result is hypertension and depression which lead to physical and mental wreckage.  An over-ambitious person is always unhappy and he/she cannot enjoy life at all. An ambitious person always project into the future and always shall be anxious about the things that can come up in life. He/she can live in the present.  This is what Jesus reminds when he says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…   See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?   So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  … Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (St. Mtt. 6:25-32)  

There is a Mulla story: Mulla Nasrudin was walking with his two children when some one asked, "How old are they?"  He answered, "the Doctor is five and the lawyer is seven." Already the future of the children is fixed in the mind of the father.  The children have no choice. A community is meant to help discover the child's abilities and promote his/her blooming.  It will not only give them directions but give them all support to be themselves.  Only when this happen can we expect to have a healthy future for the community.