***Disclaimer: Two of my loves, musicals and history have collided to form this blog. If for any reason you have trouble sticking with me during the reading of this blog, it is likely because I have begun to excitedly “nerd out” about one of these two subjects. 

Lately, I have been listening to a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of Hamilton the Musical. If you have not heard of it or have been thinking to yourself, “I should check that out”, you should really check that out. This particular musical is a hip hop take on the life and achievements of Alexander Hamilton. They also follow along with his friend turned rival, Aaron Burr.

Two of my favorite songs, Satisfied and Wait for It represent one of the themes threaded throughout (how about that for alliteration!) the story. Hamilton is never satisfied and Burr is always waiting for something to happen to him. I have listened to each of these songs probably over 100 times each (I wish I were exaggerating) and both songs make me reflect on the different ways in which I approach life.

I look at Hamilton who is never satisfied with what is happening and where he is at in life – he is always wanting more. He is a rebel with a cause and he isn’t afraid to tell people how he feels about something, and as Burr claims in Wait for It, “Hamilton doesn’t hesitate, he exhibits no restraint, he takes and he takes and he takes, and he keeps winning anyway – he changes the game, he plays and he raises the stakes…”. This attitude brought Hamilton a lot of success in life. He was innovative, and people got behind him because he was passionate and believed in something strongly. But it also brought him and his family a lot of pain, and eventually cost him his life through a duel with Aaron Burr.

Then I look at Burr who lived a safe life always waiting for things to happen to him, and never taking charge of his life or reaching for what he wants. He does however, stick to his principles and goes about life with respect for other people and boundaries. This causes pain for Burr as well, but it also earned him respect and got him to the place of being a honored lawyer and military leader that he was during this time period.

I think that I can relate well to both Hamilton and Burr. I believe that there is always room for change and that some things just need to be said regardless of whether or not people want to hear it. But with other situations in my life, I am patient and willing to wait as long as it takes to get what I want out of life, or remind myself that sometimes the thing that you want is not necessarily the thing that I need. I really tend to be one way or the other though. Often at work, I feel that I am never truly satisfied with the way things are – I am always wanting things to improve, or be different, or get better. I often find myself in extreme bouts of passion for certain causes in the work place and as I reflect, I wonder, “Was that the best way to approach that situation? Can’t I just be happy with things the way they are for now?” But the thing is – I desperately don’t want to be satisfied.

In my personal life I am way more willing to take things as they come and “wait for it”. I just let things happen and pray that they might be different one day, but am accepting of the fact that they probably won’t be. This is how I am, but I really want to never be satisfied with the way things are, and want to be a catalyst for change in my life and in the world around me.

I don’t know – as I have been writing this post, I have been thinking about some really cool way to connect this to God, or to scripture in some way, but nothing is clicking in my mind. I think that this was more about me reflecting on who I am, and taking the time evaluate my life.

I do know though, that at the end of the day that I am glad that God ultimately has control over my life and what happens to me, and to the rest of the world for that matter. There is nothing that is more comforting to me than that. So many things happen that are out of my control that I want to change or that I am waiting for, but knowing that God is sovereign over all of that is an incredible realization. Sorry King George – my God is sovereign over the WORLD – sorry ’bout the American colonies and those darn patriots. (See how I tied all of that up real nice-like?)

For your listening pleasure here are the two songs mentioned in this post: Satisfied and Wait for It. But really you should just download it on iTunes and listen to the whole things.