Push or Pull

Our muscles pull, they never push.  I don’t know why.  It’s as if someone knew there was a best way.  In contrast, I find life driven by the negative.  Don’t do this, don’t do that.  As you live and work in your community there are don’ts here and don’ts there.  Once you start looking at life there are don’ts everywhere!  Life seems to driven and shaped by the negative not the positive.  There is an alternative.
 
As I reflect on the people I admire I find myself captivated by what they choose to do.  It is never about their life’s purity.  It is about choices, decisions, and actions.  Mahatma Ghandi stood tall, intentionally and resolutely committed to a path of non-violence.  He believed idea of peace, equality of all men, and freedom were more powerful than violence and force.  He actively risked his life for these beliefs. 
 
As I think of unknown heroes living more recently who have touched and changed my life in profound ways, it never centers on their lack of flaws.  Each on reflection carried hells of their own creation with them.  Almost in defiance of their weaknesses their actions told a story of aspirations, hope, and potential opportunities.  It was in their doing I found myself drawn to something greater.  I find myself longing to accept as they accepted, commit as they committed, and see and they saw.  I know I can do more and better because of their lives.  I find myself carry more hope than I can ever use or even give away, simply because of their witness.
 
You and I face choices today.  Whatever happens, push or pull, we will tell our story.
 
“Here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will throw a feast for all the people of the world, a feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines, a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts.  And here on this mountain, God will banish the pall of doom hanging over all peoples, the shadow of doom darkening all nations.”  (Isaiah 25.6, 7)