Article September 18, 1943 Issue

Ambition Rightly Viewed

LINA ROOS SCHRADER

In her writings Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, uses the word "ambition" in both a positive and a negative signification. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1902 (p. 3) she says. "It does not follow that power must mature into oppression; indeed, right is the only real potency; and the only true ambition is to serve God and to help the race."

The word "ambition" is derived from the Latin word ambitio, meaning a going around. In Roman antiquity, as in modern times, it was the custom of candidates for office to go around seeking votes; hence, going around seeking self-advancement came to be termed ambition. Gradually, however, while still retaining its earlier import, the word has come to mean also "an uplifting desire to achieve or obtain," as is stated in Webster's second definition of the word.

In Genesis 11:1 we read that "the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." Then, as we may infer from the subsequent account, an overweening ambition took possession of the people and led them to build a tower which should "reach unto heaven." This ambitious project resulted in disruption. Their unbridled ambition frustrated their self-instituted plan. The one language gave way to a confusion of tongues, and the people were scattered over all the earth.

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