That Which I Pursue Will Ultimately Have MeOne of my favorite classic stories is Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Captain Ahab lost his leg to a whale and spends the rest of his life searching for the beast, consumed with vengeance. I've watched the 1956 movie version a few times and in it the final battle with the great white whale is the most gripping scene.
Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab makes a last-ditch effort to harpoon his obsession. The harpoon strikes the whale, but unbeknown to Ahab the rope is wrapped around his leg. As the whale lunges in response to the piercing of the harpoon, Ahab is dragged overboard into the deep. The violent thrashing of the whale increasingly entangle the pitiable sailor and the beast. The last image of Ahab is a helpless soul lashed by his own devices of his obsession, disappearing forever into the churning oblivion.
The imagery is hauntingly clear. A person will ultimately be consumed by that which he pursues. Proverbs 11:27 says, "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it." To seek the Lord is to find eternal life; but to make anything else in this world my passion will only lead to my destruction.
2 comments:
Take my hand my friend and lets pursue the Kingdom of God. The adventures and failures will be lessened where we share the journey together. Pursuing Him, your best friend.....
Paul, good to see you are back posting. Your concrete example of Ahab fits with my latest post (Bent fingers; Blind eyes) that deals with these kinds of traps.
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