Beyond the Ultimate

After the final buzzer has sounded, after the nets are cut down, after the confetti has fallen, and “One Shining Moment” has serenaded the college basketball landscape yet again…after all the celebrations have finally ended and the parties and parades have stopped…after all that, many players, coaches, and sports fans alike—both those whose teams won and lost—will  be left questioning, “Now what?” Now what will I hope for? Now what will I give my time and energy to? Now what prize or perfect season will I pursue? Now what will I do to accomplish the next accolade, achieve the next award, allure the next adoring crowd?

This mindset in life, categorized and cheapened by the shallowness of worldly standards, will inevitably fail you. For you see, the logic of worldly success, as Thomas Merton puts it, rests on a fallacy:  the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men. These thoughts and opinions are subjective externals that will invariably change just as the wind does.

For the endless pursuit of success—based solely on human standards—is indeed endless. It will leave you feeling empty, unsatisfied, and constantly searching for something more. It’s been said that, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator made known through Jesus Christ.”

In closing, if you find yourself constantly searching for something more in life, dare to search beyond the ultimate. Visit www.beyondtheultimate.org.

Editorial