Held Captive on the Mountaintop of the American Dream

For a long time in life I wanted to ‘be’ just where I am, idealistically living the American dream – healthy, financially comfortable, successful in my career, happily married with happy children. As I shared in my last post, wisdom and experience gained from the pursuit and achievement of that goal has deflated this dream. The mountaintop of wealth and success hasn’t delivered what it promised.

This mountaintop is proverbially where I stand, where I feel I am in exile. I would venture to say I have a lot of company here. Maybe you stand here with me. I sense that you, my fellow climbers, see the same emptiness – after all you are reading the spiritual musings of some obscure, neophyte blogger. I wonder if like me you notice the longing in your heart calling your to leave this state of ‘being’ and pursue another way.

I guess the first question that must be answered is what or where exactly am I being taken or driven from – what mountain should I be climbing, where or what do I truly want to ‘be.’ And the next question follows – what is keeping me from pursuing that path, what is holding me captive here on the mountain of the American Dream.

If we truly are followers of Christ, the answer to the first question is easy – I want to ‘be’ a saint. Now don’t misconstrue what a saint is – being a saint does not require superhuman piety or miraculous achievement, but it also is not something that others are ‘given’ or something that just ‘happens’ to someone. Sainthood REQUIRES pursuit of holiness. That pursuit can take many forms, and involve many failures and hurdles – but the constant element in any saint is continuous striving. As Bishop Barron likes to say, ‘A Saint is someone whose life is about one thing.’ Any guesses as to what that one thing should be?

If you agree with my answer to the first question, then lets move on to the second. I believe this one also has a simple answer that we all know. No doubt I could come up with many things that keep me from being a saint, but I would contend that when boiled down they all focus onto one thing – myself.

I am held captive here by my own wants and desires. Moving out of the realm of the American dream would cost me something, and I am unwilling to even consider paying that price. It’s just too comfortable here, too easy. Why would I act to risk what I have worked hard to build?

No doubt that is a powerful and convincing argument – just look at how many of us use it to justify our continued lives of exile. It’s the argument the Israelites used while suffering in the desert (Numbers 20:4)

So the question becomes – Is becoming a saint worth the effort and potential suffering involved?

I think I will leave my thoughts on that question for another time…but for now, my prayer is that we as God’s people consider it seriously in our own hearts.