How Healthy Is Competition?

WED., DEC. 2, 1998, 3:10 PM
OFFICE, PULLIAM HALL

The meeting in which you just participated, was, in a way about competition. Your State is above average for the provision of higher education, but your institution is somewhat less than “top dawg” in the competition for good quality students, from in-state, out-of-state, and international schools and colleges. So… SIUC gets a few of the truly talented and motivated undergraduate… and graduate… students, but the competition is stiff for this “cream”, and other schools are perceived as more desirable… or are “handier”.

You had a fine career here. It was productive, which afforded you a national reputation. It was enjoyable, for you were, at least, an above-average competitor. Yet in the last years of your career, you had little desire to compete. Further, while you appreciated excellent work from students, you gave assignments that were minimally competitive, and you graded in a “low competitive mode”.

And… this felt right for you. You gave up the struggle to be “known”, nationally, and though it was not entirely comfortable for you (because of some residual competitive spirit) you are settling into a life style in which competition is minimally valued. Last week you were with your Dad, who, you remember, was, in his working life, a good competitor. He worked himself up to be President of his company and was well-respected as a businessman by his colleagues. The owners of the company had less desire to compete, and his final acts, as President, were in selling off the Company.

Now, at 95 years OLD, he is almost characterized as being “compliant” … doing what he is told and wanting to please. You are still a bit more competitive, but you see yourself moving away from various aspects of competition. Our Ruminations is to be, basically, a gift to Me, shared with some others. It doesn’t have to be as good as, or better than, other “newsletters” that circulate. If some readers are displeased with Our final product I encourage you to accept this, rather than stewing about how you could make it more relevant and acceptable to these.

You feel some hurt when your Church Newsletter and Session minutes are criticized, but I encourage you to write them as you feel, rather than bowing to opinions of others. Yet I also accept that, in the spirit of non-competition, you may seek advice from others, to avoid hassles. It just is more “natural” for many older people to be more compliant and less willing to “fight for your own, best way”. By the standards of younger years this may seen unhealthy, but I approve of this transition.

There are some Christians, ministers and lay persons, who feel that “their religion” must be “the best”, even the only true avenue to Me, Almighty God. Some of this I encourage (in My valuing of diversity) and some is more cultural than spiritual. I know full well that some see life as competition – with satan and Me competing for the souls of each human… and though I do win many souls, many more are lost – to other religions, to agnosticism and to atheism.

Then I tell you, in various ways, that if there is any competition it is only “with yourself”, and that really coming to Me may take (and usually takes) several “lifetimes” here in the earth and some “mix” with “lifetimes” in different spirit realms. It may seem as though there are many perceptions, values, beliefs, and dogmas that “compete” for your attention and dedication. But then when you finally are “one with Me” there is virtually no competition. As I have told you… repeatedly, theoretically, in the spirit of free will, you could give up this relationship you and I now have, but you wouldn’t. Nothing you do or say could truly take you from Me, and it is the most fulfilling way of life you can imagine. It genuinely has no competition, for you.

Comfortable is not what you are in relation to the struggles in your present church family. Nevertheless, you are in the midst of it, and I don’t tell you how you should be… except… enjoy the experience as much as possible, to thine own self be true, and “weasel out” of truly competitive encounters. We’ll both have to see how these admonitions work out, in actual practice.