Freedom

When I am defensive about my actions, worried that I might be found guilty of one offense or another, I always find myself searching for the cause.  Obviously I wasn’t the one in control!  Clearly I only took this action because someone was controlling my behavior.  There is no way that I could actually be responsible for what occurred.  It wasn’t my fault!  It just happened.
 
I have given and heard this logic hundreds, probably thousands, of times in my life.  I find myself reflectively wondering if anyone ever believed the line.  At best (worst) maybe for a minute, but truth always found its way to the open.  The question when it surfaces is simply how does one respond?  Do you confront the idiocy of the logic with a firm and harsh hammer, willing to eliminate its existence?  Is there another alternative which brings hope and the chance of a different future?  As easy as it is to be critical, what do you do when the person in the breech is you?
 
Far too often I find myself in the company of people, myself included, who want to believe circumstances take over and cause life to be out of control.  Circumstances are at fault!  Things just happen!  Life is beyond our control.
 
If that was the case then the questions which follow begin to border on the ridiculousness.  “Does an ax take over from the one who swings it?  Does a saw act more important than the sawyer?  As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger!  As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails!” (Isaiah 10.15) 
 
The reason for our failures rests in our freedom.  The cause for hope rests in the same, our freedom to choose.  Everything pivots on our choice.  Nobody can control us unless we give up our freedom to them by choice. 
 
Today’s dawn brings endless opportunities.  Nothing material is beyond our grasp.  Compassion can find a home within us.  Mercy can take its place of residence.  Love will find its partner.  Freedom makes everything possible.