The Quest

Every­one has a pur­suit — a quest for some­thing in life. All too often, it is some­thing short-sighted. We arrive too quickly and set­tle for too lit­tle. Some­times we let oth­ers define our goals. We end up being their vic­ar­i­ous wish. By the time we ask our­selves about our true pur­pose, it is too late to pur­sue it (at least in this life). Too many death beds are podiums of regret.

My quest has evolved. I have learned to real­ize a sec­ondary goal and go onto an ulti­mate one. It is also pays to keep my ego out of it. Deep inside of us resides a sage that will not let us get away with less. The sage will not be appeased. He can­not be belit­tled, bribed, or brow­beaten into the ego’s will­ful­ness. The sage patiently waits until we spit out the ashes of infe­rior pursuits.

The “Pearl of Great Price” that we seek has more to do with qual­ity. It beck­ons us to find a new church, a more pro­found phi­los­o­phy, or a bet­ter men­tor. It will trade every­thing to accom­plish its mis­sion. No price is too high. The way it describes its desire is more abstract than con­crete. At first it comes to you as a feel­ing (Ein­stein affirmed this).

My quest has always been one in the pur­suit of the beau­ti­ful soul. I have met some inter­est­ing peo­ple along the way. There have also been some ele­gant char­ac­ters and a few bril­liant thinkers. They have helped point the way, but I am hold­ing out for the pres­ence in which I sense total still­ness. I am sure peo­ple felt this way around Jesus. Many other greats have had com­mand­ing per­son­al­i­ties or charis­matic auras, but few are beau­ti­ful souls. My search continues.

The telling trait that I hate to admit is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It is unlikely I will ever find that beau­ti­ful soul until I am one myself. There is a lot of work to be done. For now, I can only imag­ine what that encounter must be like. In that I find the inspi­ra­tion to con­tinue the quest.