Reaction

As I age my core values simplify.  Many of yesterday’s “issues” aren’t.  The values and priorities I hold dear include my soul’s response to life and the people close to my heart.  I no longer look at life empty of emotion.  I’ve lost the ability to make decision without considering, struggling with, and reflecting on the price others will “pay”.  The process has taken me from a disciplined, aggressive, and at times heartless decision maker to one willing to make the hard decision yet conscious of the price I and others will pay during and after the decision. 
 
Two sustain my life. The first is Divinity’s Spirit.  I find myself in an intimate, unconditional, and growing relationship.  I don’t understand why it exists.  I’m often confused by the unlimited amounts of mercy, love, and compassion I find.  I find myself stunned when I realize how easily I often put it aside, only to rediscover how critical it is to my existence.  The second is Cherry.  Her love and willingness to engage defies my imagination.  It isn’t as if she isn’t carrying her own load – yet life has given her more than a fair share of challenges, burdens, and difficulties.  In the midst of this she still finds the capacity to love those in her family, care for life in her path, and respond with passion to the issues which confront her. 
 
In this context I begin to understand Isaiah’s reaction to an ongoing dialogue with God.  “Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess.  She conceived and gave birth to a son.  God told me, ‘Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.  Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.” (Isaiah 8.3, 4)
 
I wonder what today will bring.  I pray you see it with open eyes, aware of the Spirit who walks with you.  Life will throw its best and worst at you, often without considerations for the place you are in.  Always know God is with you, as am I through prayer.