Paradox

Life has a certain absurdity about it that is refreshing.  Why or how does a simple word take one to heights of ecstasy or despair?  How does the color of the sky reach inside our souls and, at least in time, change one’s outlook on life?  Is it possible for a child to know the ultimate question to which there is no answer? 
 
I catch myself caught in the maze of life, wondering what new surprise the city of the day will bring me.  Will Singapore catch me by surprise?  Does New York have something in mind for everyone in the community?  Will Redlands have a unique insight that will change those who are there?  On any given day, in a particular moment, the answer could be yes.  There are surprises waiting for each of us in every moment.  Some hit us over the head while others are waiting for us to be present.
 
In the discovery of things new, wonderful, and beautiful, I find myself realizing that there is a benefit to simply accepting what is.  Questioning for the sake of questioning does not serve anyone well.  Ultimately “would a sperm say to a father, ‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’  Or a fetus to a mother, ‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”  (Isaiah 45.10)  We know this is foolishness.  Yet have we thought of all the ways we question what life has given us?
 
There is an alternative.  Life’s paradox will finds its answer in the resolution of good and evil.  Until then, we can accept life for what it is, never surrendering our freedom to choose.  The pursuit of all that is good lies at the heart of getting the most out of life.  Words like compassion, mercy, community, relationship, and love are more than just sounds and letters.  They define the best of this moment and the next.  They tell of our past and our future.  They give shape to Hope.  Life can be a paradox; it can also be our gateway to God.