Running From--Not To

A sentence heard somewhere quotes a restless young person as saying: “I am running from, not to.” Many it seems are running from, who don’t really seem to know what they are running toward⎯what end, what accomplishment, what result⎯too many running and not really knowing, from what and to what, without any definite or definable destination that one would want to reach. “Let us get our eye clearly, then, on what we are talking of,” said Dr. Fosdick, “⎯not…an escape from life, but as an indispensable part of life,… Of all pathetic things few are worse than the familiar sight which one sees on every side…people who are trying to substitute thrills for serenity. Having no serenity at hone within themselves, they run away into sensations, spend as much time as possible away from themselves amid their thrills, and then at last have to come back again … That is the very essence of unhappiness…. Speed becomes a mania and the pace is sometimes frantic,…[with]…the wreckage of that inner grace without which there can be nothing great in life or art,… Some of our modern sophisticates might well cease their attacks on our forefathers… While they may have been dour, grim, and unhappy, they were not cynical, flippant, futile, and unhappy. …lacking deep wells of quietness, trying to make up for the loss of serene meaning by plunging into sensations.” Life has purpose and meaning and is everlastingly long⎯but here and now one can not always run, for one runs out of time and strength. If it boredom we run from , it will always catch up with us. If it is duty, it remains whether we run or not. If it is reality we run from, it is with us whether we recognize it or not. If it is ourselves, no man ever leaves himself behind. The antidote to restless running is to choose a solid purpose and pursue it. Whatever we may be running from, we need to be moving toward a solid purpose, without which there is no peace, no serenity inside.