I stood at the elevator waiting. The switch covered with a glass plate was just to my right. Simple, obvious, and, literally, in my face. Even if I wanted to ignore it, Life’s whispers would not let me. I imagined myself in an emergency situation. A fire alarm had gone out, alerting me and other first responders. At this point, I do not know if there is an actual emergency. Lives could be at stake, potentially more at risk with the decision I needed to make as I stood where I was standing. Simply put, do I take the stairs and the relative safety that they offered, or do I break the glass, flip the switch, and take the path with more risk and danger? One puts the primary risks on the residents of level 26, the other reduces their risks while increasing my own.
It is easy to take a view without any adrenaline in my system, as I faced an emergency. In considering my choice, I could hear one writer’s observation, “The fool sits back and takes it easy, his sloth is slow suicide.” (Ecclesiastes 4.5)
Life is the abstract can seem easy; it is in the unwatched, unguarded moment that we write the real story of our lives. I hope my best self flips the switch if lives are at risk. I know that if I understood how my life is at risk in my life’s quiet, unwatched, and unguarded moments, I would not always choose the path I have in the past.
Each moment in my life is a decision, a flip of the switch. The question is simple. Do I take the elevator, trusting that Divinity is lifting me at speed towards my purpose, or do I do it all on my own by taking the stairs? Are my steps we decision or me? It is not easy to let go of my control and walk in faith when I have cast my lot with the principles of compassion, kindness, and care.
The glass remained unbroken. I can change this today.
