Two Cheers for Excellence

In his book The Broken Heart Bruce C. Hafen said this, “I feel an ever-deepening uneasiness about our uncritical accepting the assumptions of the Yankee ethic of success which can be so competitive, self-centered, and superficial.  That is why I have only two cheers for excellence.  I have reservations not because I believe it justifiable for us to exert less than our finest efforts; rather, I fear that without a wise perspective, an unqualified commitment to ‘goals’ and ‘excellence’ can distort our understanding of certain long-term principles about life and its larger purposes-even if we do put forth great effort” (see chapter 5).  I first discovered this quote a long time ago and I’ve thought often about this idea of having only “two cheers for excellence” in our attitude about exceling in life.  In the world there is so much pressure to succeed and it begins early on in school for children as they are constantly compared with each other, receive grades and percentage rankings, are pushed to get high marks on standardized tests, etc.  I think there can be a fine line between the attitude of Korihor who said, “Every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength” and that of Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Alma 30:17, Philippians 4:13).  When we push ourselves to succeed, whether that be in a career, a sport, in school, or for some worldly honor, are we seeking to do so in the strength of Christ or for our own personal aggrandizement? 

                I reflect often on the parable of the rich man who had many goods, and I think that it is applicable in connection with this idea.  His desire was to acquire wealth and have “much goods laid up for many years,” and the Lord said to him these immortal words, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:19-20)  Surely we could apply this same story to the acquisition of worldly acclaim, prestigious degrees, or a high station in our career.  How ashamed we will be before the Lord if He likewise says to us at our passage to the next world, “Thou fool, this night shall thy life be required of thee: then whose shall these worldly positions be?”  Jesus said to introduce this parable, “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth,” and surely that includes the possessions/positions of “excellence” that we seek to attain unto (Luke 12:15).  D&C 4 tells us what we should really strive for in our lives: “Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence” (D&C 4:6).  It is in the pursuit of those private attributes largely unrecognized by the world that true satisfaction with ourselves comes.  Three cheers for a life full of the pursuit those divine traits, for those are the things that we will indeed take with us in eternity.