Low Aim
Emerson once wrote, “Hitch your wagon to a star.” These words form a summary of human achievement and provide an everlasting inspiration for all of us. Jesus said it this way, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Now, none of us will ever be “perfect” as God is “perfect,” but that is the goal, the standard.
Aspiration is the key to growth and development. Aspiration serves as an inner stimulus for us to accomplish worthy goals. Beecher once said, “There is not a heart but has its moments of longing, yearning for something better, nobler, holier than it knows now.” So often these moments of yearning are suppressed, not acted upon, and therefore become less acute and compelling the next time we have them. The desire to be better, acceptable, to be perfect and to excel will enable us to achieve greater heights. How often we fail simply because we lose our desire to achieve some worthy goal. When our soul stops growing, it is easy to be content with life down in the valley; but Christ calls us, not for life down in the valley, but for life on the highest spiritual summits.
Psychologists tell us that “we are products of our environment.” Lou Brock once observed, “Why can’t we be products of our dreams? As long as the obstacles in our lives are not greater than our dreams, we can overcome, grow, and be happy.” No one should be satisfied with mediocrity, or being average. Average is just the worst of the best and the best of the worst. Thorwaldsen, the great sculptor, noticed that his power was waning when he stood before his statue satisfied. His hand had caught up with his brain. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, never reached a point in his life where he felt satisfied, or that he had arrived. (Read Phil. 3:13-14)
People aspire to different goals, most of which are completely earthbound. We all live under the same sky, but we don’t have the same horizon. Set your sights high! Our aspirations should focus beyond this world. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Phil. 3:1) This world has too low a ceiling for aspiring men and women.
“Though thou hast time
But for a line, but that sublime,
Not failure, but low aim, is a crime.”
Lowell
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on January 13th, 2009
