Jun
Choices
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Whenever I turn on the television to catch up on the news, I am reminded of what a lousy place the world is to live in. Given a choice, who in their right mind would choose to live in world comprised of violence, chaos, confusion, corruption and blatant ignorance??
Wolfgang von Goethe was right when he said, “there is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.”
What went wrong? We are basically a good and loving people. You and I exhibit a high sense of integrity, fair play and a natural tendency to care for those in need. We are a peaceful people and intend to keep it that way by punishing or rehabilitating those who are not. We see the benefit of adhering to the law, trust in the legal system and express love and gratitude even in the most trying of situations.
There is a paradox here. In spite of our inherent goodness, we seem to be mixed with an opposite experiences of negative behavior, events and circumstance.
By definition, opposites cannot be comingled or justified one to the other. They are “elements that are so far apart and diverse as to be totally irreconcilable one to the other” (Webster) Because these opposites cannot, by law, be justified one the other, we compelled be obedient to the biblical admonition: “Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15)
Being opposites, one is true and one is false. One is real and one is unreal. One is spiritual and the other is material. If we don’t make a choice between these two, we will have unintentionally tried to mix that which, by definition, cannot be mixed. This results in those things we call problems, discord, imbalance, etc. and will continue until such time as we make a conscious separation between these constructive and the destructive element.
In looking at the environment in which “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), let us be discriminating as to how we observe and react to the world around us.
“Observation” is defined by Webster as, “An act or power of recognizing, seeing or sensing the way in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed.”
“Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.” Your life experiences depend on making the right choice.
