Ambition is Over-rated

Excerpt from James 3:13-18
"But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel
Back when I was in college, I would periodically get out a yellow legal pad and write the years ahead of me on each line, and then write next to each age exactly what I thought I would be doing. My future graduation was duly noted, as were plans for grad school, and even the years when I would be having children. I had decided that I would wait to have them, well into middle age, so that I could focus on my career as a lawyer in international business first. And naturally I would adopt, because, well, to be honest, it seemed more efficient, less painful and easier to schedule. As for a life partner, that never made it onto the pad.

Just a few years later, I was married, pregnant and about to be ordained a pastor at the age of 26. What had happened to that yellow legal plan version of my life? Well, it turns out that life, love and the holy spirit can’t be planned.

A recent article in the Economist revealed that happiness and age relate to one another like a giant U curve. We are happy young adults, but then get decidedly unhappier until our low point at age 46. After that, we start creeping up the curve toward more happiness as we age. But why?
One theory is that as we get older, we let go of some of those "selfish ambitions" that James was writing to the early church about. We let go of our legal pad life plans, probably written to impress someone else, and we come to appreciate who we are.

Godly ambition is not about impressing other people, but living into a purpose that is both good for you and good for the world. That’s the kind of ambition worth carrying forward. Let your old ambitions pass that test before you carry them with you into the future.

And remember, at least if you are over 46, it gets better.

Prayer
Dear God, search my ambitions within me, to see which of them are Godly and worth taking into the future, and which of them are worth leaving behind.

UCC Daily Devotional from February 4, 2011
Source: http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/daily-devotional/ambition-is-over-rated.html
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UCC Mission Moment

National UCC Mission Moment

Ecumenical Sunday
January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after the Epiphany

What IS Our Church’s Wider Mission, Anyway?
It’s a well-kept secret in a lot of places, but Our Church’s Wider Mission is, in a lot of ways, who we are in the United Church of Christ.

The God is still speaking campaign is attracting thousands of people to the United Church of Christ. For them, we are the kind of church they “never knew existed,” the kind of church that actively welcomes everyone and takes courageous stands on controversial issues—and all the while tends to the traditional basic mandates of the gospel to spread the Good News, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.

Our nearly 6,000 congregations contribute to Our Church’s Wider Mission, making us the kind of church so many people “never knew existed.”

Without Our Church’s Wider Mission . . .
We could not gather the great strengths of our congregations or make our voice heard in the public arena. We would not have missionaries in over 70 countries worldwide. We could not help small, struggling, or emerging new churches with support for pastors or buildings. We could not provide congregations with distinctively “UCC” resources: for worship, stewardship, leadership. Congregations would be entirely on their own when looking for a pastor. There would be no United Church of Christ presence at all in parts of the United States. Our Church’s Wider Mission: It’s who we are. Does your congregation contribute?

Source: http://www.ucc.org/stewardship/mission-moments/
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