As I write this the ocean waves are lapping the rocky coastline upon which our humble abode is affixed and I am savoring the otherwise quiet repose of living at the edge of the earth. Suffice it to say it is a much welcome respite from the spiteful rhetoric of the recent election and its noisy aftermath. And so I am endeavoring to follow the scriptural admonition of “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.”
I gotta credit writer and pastor John Mark Comer with getting this concept on my radar screen with his thought-provoking book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: “That’s the goal, the end, the vision of success: a quiet life…[The apostle] Paul’s line reminds me of the long-standing advice of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuit order): ‘Try to keep your soul always in peace and quiet.’”
I for one have never considered myself an overly ambitious person as I am very content with living a simple yet fulfilling life with my best friend as my wife in joint relationship with our Creator. As bestselling author Donald Miller observes: “It’s interesting that in the Bible…the only practical advice given about living a meaningful life is to find a job you like, enjoy your marriage, and obey God. It is as though God is saying, Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help” [emphasis mine].
I LOVE that. I don’t know about you but I gravitate toward simple truth that I can apply to my daily life and to me the above statement sums it all up neatly. It is not only daring but doable, much like this pithy yet profound quote from former Yale chaplain William Sloane Coffin: “Spirituality means to me living the ordinary life extraordinarily well.” So, don’t let words like quiet and ordinary steer you away from living a meaningful life because worldly ambition is grossly overrated, not to mention misdirected.
To share an update of how I am chasing a quieter life, I signed off of Twitter and I encourage you to consider limiting your own activity on so-called social media. While I gleaned some good from it, much of it only added noise and negativity to my life, which I do not need nor do you. Here is to a quiet life!