How many times can one start over? This morning's blog has taken several different turns. Sentences have splatted across the screen only to be erased nearly as quickly as they appeared. The topics have shifted from hearing loss to clutter and around a couple of other bends. Nothing stuck. I went to my normal sources of inspiration including prayer, photos, and Greg stories without success. Writing felt more like fighting.
As soon as I acknowledged the fight, the road became clear. It is hard to hear when our minds are busy and cluttered, and when we are tuned into the wrong frequency. The message we are supposed to pick up gets distorted amidst the noise of life. We lift our heads from the path only to find we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Then we face a fork in the road. There are signposts but we frequently fail to read them, and even if we read them we don't always make the best choice. One signpost reads, Give Up, the other reads, Hope.
The path to giving up looks easy, the road is flat and straight but boring as hell. The path to hope is not clearly visible. There are twists and turns, hills and valleys, and crazy colourful things decorating the pathway. Choosing hope demands energy, perseverance, and faith. What if the path marked hope takes us through events and relationships that are hard or painful? If you give up you know what you are signing up for. You will get a predictable life of stunted development and limited growth. If you choose hope, you are in for a stormy exhilarating adventure.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is quoted in The Book of Joy, "To choose hope is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, baring one's chest to the elements, knowing that in time, the storm will pass." I don't anticipate being bare chested in the elements but I do love the quote. It resonates with the rawness of choosing hope in the storms of our life. There is realism to the words - we don't simply choose hope once. We have to choose it over and over, day after day. I'm choosing hope today, how about you?
As soon as I acknowledged the fight, the road became clear. It is hard to hear when our minds are busy and cluttered, and when we are tuned into the wrong frequency. The message we are supposed to pick up gets distorted amidst the noise of life. We lift our heads from the path only to find we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Then we face a fork in the road. There are signposts but we frequently fail to read them, and even if we read them we don't always make the best choice. One signpost reads, Give Up, the other reads, Hope.
The path to giving up looks easy, the road is flat and straight but boring as hell. The path to hope is not clearly visible. There are twists and turns, hills and valleys, and crazy colourful things decorating the pathway. Choosing hope demands energy, perseverance, and faith. What if the path marked hope takes us through events and relationships that are hard or painful? If you give up you know what you are signing up for. You will get a predictable life of stunted development and limited growth. If you choose hope, you are in for a stormy exhilarating adventure.
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