Choices

Full love is tough.  It means one is not always popular.  It does not signify that one will be understood.  It does suggest there may be tension, extreme highs and lows, serenity and chaos. Yet if one truthfully loves another then their love will be full, complete, and at times tough.
 
I can remember chaffing at the thought of discipline.  Why was it required?  Did the pain, hassle, and trouble warrant the goal?  Was the subject merely an excuse for someone to inflict negative emotions and energies on the weak?
 
I recall the first serious engagement where my success depended on my response to discipline.  At the time I was just starting life as an adult.  I knew my future would depend and be shaped by how I responded to the opportunities at hand.  I also knew nobody could really help.  This was something I had to do for myself.
 
In hindsight it was the best and worst of times.  I made bad choices.  I failed at more than one step.  I also discovered I was capable of a lot more than I ever thought possible.  I found out how much work my dreams required.  Discipline, dedication, and persistence became tools I treasured and nurtured.  Everything was possible.  My choices mattered.  I also discovered God played a far larger role than I ever imagined.
 
I wonder what things would have been like if I understood what I learned when my choices began.  Perhaps, then again perhaps not.  I do know you and I have choices to make today.  Yesterday’s lessons can help.  God’s support can make a different.  Everything turns on the decision we alone make; no one can make it for us.  One doesn’t have to wait until a crisis is present to understand and make life choices.  We have the evidence.  We have the present.  Wherever we stand, in whatever circumstances life finds us, Divinity’s invitation is here.
 
“O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble, when your discipline was so heavy they could barely whisper a prayer.”  (Isaiah 26.16)