What
would you do if you were offered position and/or power as a way to
buy your vote or pre-determine your thinking? (Serendipity Bible
10th anniversary edition, page 1230).
The
answer to this question all depends on how and where one is anchored
in life – where one’s core values lie; what decision rules one
has in place. If one’s core values lie in power and prestige, then
when one is offered them at the expense of lesser held values the
result is highly predictable. One of the central objectives that my
parents had was to instill within me core values which forcefully
implied that to achieve at any cost was ill advised. The fast track
to the top was valued immeasurably less than anchored direction.
Unfortunately sometimes I think well-intentioned concern with
scholarship and academic success in school can be destructive of the
child’s best interest. The pursuit of the honor roll is not always
a good thing – in fact it can be destructive. The basic business
we must be about is how to live faithful lives—not showy,
successful ones. Our legal system underscores this approach when it
recognizes that a speedy conviction is less important than justice –
hence, the implementation of Miranda rights. Unfortunately our
economic system sometimes seems to affirm and reinforce the bankrupt
notion that we should achieve at any cost, and thus deeply undermines
bedrock democratic principles. (Inherent within human freedom is the
paradox that our actions must be limited.) A poisonous and
demonically inspired way of thinking ensues when we ascribe to the
notion that success is its own justification – in the service of
this end, any means will do. This is clearly antithetical to the
disciplines of love that validate and enable true prosperity.
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