I can choose life

My last post — Find a way to walk on water — reminds me of something vitally important: we choose our outlook. In the past month, I’ve reneged on that. I’ve allowed whatever current I encountered to rule. Spend time reading the news with such passivity, and depression/anger results. Spend time in our hurried, don’t-tread-on-me culture, and a reactionary volatility results.

No! That’s not how Jesus Christ lived, and that’s not how we’re invited to live either.

“Choose life.” That’s what Deuteronomy 30:19 commands, and we can practice that with every thought we think, every word we speak, every action we put into play. The results are far better than depression/anger and reactionary volatility.

Deception
Peace … I see it there
bright, shining, welcoming
I can put it on, wear it
bear its light weight
smile, dance a bit
and recognize this is God’s domain
one of dumbfounded power
grace
joy
a bulwark of solidity
…that I call naive
and darkness falls
worry rushes in; I wade in it
and think myself more prepared.
What a fool am I!

Reflection

How powerful do you find your ability to choose how you will perceive the world and your own being in it? What informs the efficiency of this power?

Prayer

O God, I am more powerful than I think I am. Help me to see my part, my place, my ability to impact my own spirit as well as the spirits of others. My vision of You creates me! My vision of the world creates me! Help me to understand this. Help me to stand.