I'm the Best!

Every since we were young, people of my generation have been taught to strive for the best . . . in everything. That has had a devastating effect.

We recently had dinner with a friend from Pakistan, who is a doctoral student. I asked him if he plans on staying in America after he finishes his studies. Without even blinking an eye, he said, "No way." His response is that people in America are too competitive. He said that everyone has to be the best at everything. This, he says, makes for a much lower quality of life.

That's too bad . . . but I definitely see what he is saying. A more simple life seems to be a better one. I think that is so, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and otherwise.

The image above is a sign I saw hanging in a restaurant on a recent trip to Chicago, in the Wicker Park area. I was walking down the sidewalk; and it caught my attention. We want to be the best . . . at any and everything, just so we can claim it. So much so that we will claim even the most random of categories, including grilled artichokes. This just seemed like such a random thing to claim, just to be able to say it. "I'm the best!" Is there that big of a market out there for grilled artichoke???

I am not saying that we should not strive for greatness . . . but striving for greatness without some perspective has its costs. Perhaps a more humble, simple way of living is better. One that affirms others' greatness, along with our own. One that sees that getting to the top is not all it's cracked up to be. And one that affirms that being the best at something (or anything) is not the most important thing. It's not just what we do . . . it's also who we are. We need to keep in mind the people that we are becoming in our journeys.

We're Not Equal

We're not. You and I, me and others, we're not equal. Before we can proclaim with Paul that there is "neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free," we must first proclaim that Jews are not equal with Greeks, males are not equal with females, etc. We simply are not all the same. There are significant differences, even simply biological differences.

That does not mean that I am better than you, that Jews are better than Greeks, that females are better than males. A radical thing that the Christian movement, and many other schools of thought since, proclaims is that our barriers and boundaries that we humans make with each other do not matter.

It would do us all good to step back and think about this for a minute. There's a lot in the news right now about there being a War on Women, especially in the realm of politics. Of course, many people are using whatever someone might have said (such as the DNC chairperson) for their own advantage. Many Republicans, just like many Democrats, say stupid things about men (and women).

What would be refreshing is for someone to proclaim that men and women are not equal. In fact, all men are not equal with all men. And all women are not equal with all women. The important thing is that we realize that our differences do not matter. Women should earn equal pay as men and should be treated equally. But that should not be based upon they themselves being equal with men, just as the pay I receive should not be treated on my being equal with another man. I am not. But any differences that I have with another man, or with another woman, should not matter.

If our differences, do not matter, then we will not discriminate others based upon the differences they have with us--be they gender differences, or racial differences, or sexual differences, and on and on the list can go. That will, of course, make a difference with things like income . . . but it will also make a difference with things like the jokes that we tell each other, or the way we act towards each other, or even the things we think about each other.