“You are a survivor if you are following your dream.” This was a statement that grabbed my attention on the radio the other day. The speaker was referring to a play on Broadway, but I heard something different. I always considered the term survivor to be referring to people who live through traumatic experiences and move on to a normal life. A survivor of a plane crash or childhood sexual abuse would be an example of this. When our troops come home from the war they will consider themselves survivors of Gulf War II. But this quote raises the bar somewhat. It says that a survivor is a person who goes beyond simple living. A survivor is a person who is following a dream. Now that is something that grabs my attention.
Reaching for a dream is what life should be all about shouldn’t it? The concept of reaching for a spiritual goal permeates the Urantia Book, and fills it with wonderful quotes. I’m rather fond of this one: “Some men’s lives are too great and noble to descend to the low level of being merely successful. The animal must adapt itself to the environment, but the religious man transcends his environment and in this way escapes the limitations of the present material world through this insight of divine love. This concept of love generates in the soul of man that superanimal effort to find truth, beauty, and goodness; and when he does find them, he is glorified in their embrace; he is consumed with the desire to live them, to do righteousness” (2096.8). A truly spiritual person strives for more than survival, for more than success, for more than life itself. A truly spiritual person strives to experience love, truth, beauty, and goodness. A truly spiritual person strives for God. Animals survive; we can do much more than that.
At one time I had a good job in a reasonable career track that kept my family and me going. But something happened, I wanted to do more. Call it a call from God or call it a desire to be more than I am. I went back to school and completed a Master’s program. I left my career, sold my house, packed up my family and moved away. It was a big decision. We were happy there. We were surviving. But I wanted more, and my wife did too. So we stepped out into an adventure and have never looked back.
To survive is not enough, we need to thrive. And to do that we need to strive to reach God, to know Him and to be like Him. It’s a tall order because there is no paved road that makes the path straight and clear. There is just the desire to do more, to be more, and to go beyond survival.
I know that everyone who is reading this wants to do more than just survive. I know that you are seeking the same thing that I am. I pray that you will thrive in a hostile world and continue to reach for the prize that God has prepared for us.
God bless you,
William Whitehead
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