Choices and the Power Therein...(An Audible Reflection)

Either we are wedged between two of them, reaping the backlash of one of them, or basking in the delectable essence of a series of the right ones. I'm talking about choices. The ability to choose is something that all humanity must partake in. I'm sure we'd all like to think we are always making the right ones, but that is simply not the case. However, as of late, I've been finding much solace in the fact that tomorrow offers us a new platform of choices. We can choose to use our tomorrows as trampolines to catapault us into the current of momentum, or we can continue to dwell on the failure of bad choices of yesterday we may have made. When I look at the orchestration of God's creation, I am in awe of one thing: God left man with the power of choice. Dogs had to bark, chickens had to cluck, snakes had to hiss, and the billows were left to roll, but man had the power to choose. He could etch his persona into the very earth that God had given him dominion over or he could choose to wisk around the love of his life (Eve) for hours on hand aside streams of crystal-clear creeks while the fields went untended. Adam even went as far as negating the status of life by choosing to partake of the forbidden fruit tree. There is, however, a morsel of reflection to consider here. Even though Adam and Eve surely sinned against God through disobedience, they were able to handle the consequences of their choice. Though they were sentenced to (eventual) death, they still handled it. Though childbirth would greatly pain Eve, she handled it. Then, something occured to me, perhaps it is meant for us to make SOME bad choices. If character is going to transcend into spheres of greatness, it should be expected that some resistance must take place. However, too many times I've allowed one bad choice to diffuse into a multitude of pity-driven, rash choices. This is the frivilous maze our devour seeks to consume us with. My views and stances continue to evolve along with my experiences. Now, I don't seek to achieve a 100% threshold in every decision-making proposition I am faced with, BUT I will ONLY make choices that I am able to bear the consequence of. If I find that I can't handle the fallout from the choice I may potentially make, then I'll simply choose another path. A wise man told me once, to count up ALL the costs and sometimes we have to do exactly that. Sometimes, you must allow yourself to be freed from the curse of staying the same only because making a choice seems more painful. Plan wisely, pray fervently, and expect the GREAT! God Bless you all!

That Darn "D" Word

No matter what the reason, I will never celebrate divorce. And while I will relent to the fact that some marriages do need to be dissolved, had intuition and insight been allowed to trump sheer lust, a marriage and subsequently, a divorce just may not have occured. Tonight, I was shocked to see that former Governor Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver were separating. I found it especially unfortunate given that they had just reached their 25-year milestone. It would be very easy and quite typical to criticize marriages ending in dissolution, but I’m the type of person who would rather find a solution than fault. As appealing as marriage and its benefits appear to be, I can say that I am just now reaching the maturity level where I would be able to earnestly commit to the eternal decision of marriage. Years ago my Godmother admonished me to be specific in what traits and/or characteristics I would pursue in a wife. I immediately began to turn my mind to the things which gratified my superficial taste buds. This body type, this level of education, this length of hair, etc frivolously sat in the high-priority seats where crucial elements such as longsuffering, intelligent, and/or spiritual-minded should have been seated. As she shared with me where my thinking and logic was wrong, I began to realize one of the main elements I truly desire is someone intelligent enough to wrap their entire mind, soul, and spirit around the word commitment. It becomes a dubious task to consider the prospect of marriage when statistics state that one of every two marriages will be dissolved…
I then turn my mind to my own parents who are embarking on 35 years of being together. How have they endured so long? They have definitely had their share of hard times, financial and other issues which threatened the very foundation of which their union was built; however, their commitment to each other has been unwavering. I’ve watched peers carelessly jump into marriages—even with warning against doing so. And just as soon as they are married, it seems they are divorced. Where is the fight for love? Are cycles of revolving marriages a result of seeing what someone else has and haphazardly orchestrating a union without carefully putting together all the pieces of the puzzle? Why is it that we feel marriage will change spouses? There are just so many questions which resonate in my mind about how individuals can so easily let their vow before God be severed without even a fight. I guess I will continue to seek the right answers, but I will always and forever hate that “D” word…