Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us wrestle with the big questions of life. Such questions include…
Why am I here?
Is there a God?
Does what I do matter?
Does anything matter?
We can endure endless days without thinking of them occupied by muchness and manyness. Yet the questions remain and we never know when they will arise and stir in our hearts.
These questions are important and should not be ignored. We should embrace them, wrestle with them, ponder and explore them. They can lead us to bedrock, to the core of who we are, to what we believe about God and to the meaning of life. Yet it takes time and the answers don’t come easy.
We get sidetracked with the immediate all too often. The big questions get shelved as we address the little. In addition, we are overwhelmed with so much so often in the form of entertainment that the important gets lost. We have an unlimited supply of music, movies, sports, and media to fill every waking moment of our days.
I love the arts and my life has been deeply touched and enriched by them. They have moved me and lifted my sights. They have provided a laugh or a cry when that is exactly what was needed. In addition, sports have brought out the best in me and taught me incredible life lessons; lessons on achievement, endurance, and teamwork, just to name a few.
Both arts and sports can also provide needed reprieve from the hectic and mundane and give us something to cheer for and something to celebrate. They allow us to vent and to refresh our weary souls. Yet, as with all things, we can misuse them, taking them to excess and allowing them to occupy a larger part of our time and attention than was intended or is wise. We become audio files, movie junkies, obsess with social media and become sports fanatics. And deep down, under the surface, the big questions remain.
So, we embrace life, the big moments and the little, the highs and the lows. We endure the mundane and the monotony of our routines and find inspiration and reprieve where we can. When times are good, we celebrate and enjoy. When difficulty comes, we persevere. We don’t always choose the circumstances or events of our lives. But we do choose how we respond. This is the greatest power we have as human beings; the power to choose.
Many pass through life feeling powerless and ineffective. Yet regardless of your station in life, your birth order, or the title at your organization, you hold this ultimate power. No one has expressed this with greater clarity than Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.
“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
― Viktor E. Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning
We choose whether we believe or whether we doubt. We choose whether we hope or despair. We choose how we work or even if we work. We choose to love or to hate. We choose to get bitter or to forgive. We choose what we think about and whether we address the important questions of life, or we ignore them. Our choices dictate our future. Think of the power in each choice…
-who you choose to marry
-who you choose as friends
-what you choose as a career
-where and if you choose to go to college
-where and if you choose to worship
The list is endless. And all this power and all these choices are in your hands.
As Joshua challenged the children of Israel,
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15
The context of this passage is that Joshua was recounting the difficult journey made by the nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. He reminded them of God’s faithfulness and favor amidst the challenge and hardship. Then he challenged them to choose. And to choose today! This is the only day that we have. Now is the only moment we have. Choose well! Your choice makes all the difference.