Where is Utopia?

We live in a restless society.  There are many negative things to contend with daily; yet we keep hoping and searching for that perfect state.  It is just out there a little way.  The young person believes that it is the day for getting a driver’s license.  It is the day of their first car; it is the day of graduation; it is the day to start college; it is the day of graduation from college; it is the first job; and it is just “out there” where we will find happiness. 

We continually look for that “utopian” state, when everything will be perfect and right.  Is it possible to reach that state?  We know that the state of utopia is an imaginary place considered perfect or ideal.  Daniel Nettle stated, “Nothing, not even a Utopia, can necessarily make the pursuit of happiness a successful one that ends in capture.  The best society can merely allow every individual to flourish in the pursuit.”  This imaginary place is so illusive that when we think we have reached the destination, it quickly moves in a different direction.

Recently one talked about how much he enjoyed riding the thrill rides and especially the high roller coasters.  He would wait and waste hours in line just for the thrill of a couple of minutes.  He said something very profound, “I realized that the place that I got on the ride was the exact same spot that I got off.” 

There is nothing wrong with chasing a dream as long as we do not sacrifice everything in life to try to reach the dream.  We often focus on some future destination and fail to see the beauty where we are.  (There was a story of a young Indian maiden, “You may start down that row of corn and may pick the largest ears for yourself.”  She started looking intently for the next ear that may be larger.  On and on she went and when she reached the end, she had nothing to show for her travel.  She looked back with nothing but regrets, realizing that she had overlooked “much” in searching for “more.”)

Therefore, Utopia is not a place to find but a place to create.  God gave each of us powerful creative abilities and each of us has twenty-four hours a day to create that state of happiness in our own life and the lives of those around us.  We search and search; however, generally we find the pot of gold right back where our search began.  That perfect place is not the riches of this world, although they may help, but is to found inside us, and realized when creating an atmosphere of Utopia becomes the journey of life. 

You are special and God made you capable of using your special creative powers to find happiness right where you are.  Let us analyze our life and make a plan to do that for which we were created!  A great way to start is to draw a circle three feet in diameter, step inside it, and create a Utopia inside that circle.  The power of influence that comes from that circle will amaze you and those around you.

Psalms 118:24 “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”