Choice Comes With A Price

Every once in a while, I draw a blank... my mind is blank regarding something about which to write, although, I know there is a vast and endless source of information called “mankind,” that generates several ideas a second about which one could write a 1000 words or more at the drop of a hat... and, it is those thoughts that allude me today... as none of them seem to be of any interest to me.

Iraq, Syria, and ISIS are goldmines for the creative writer or the investigative reporter and there are so many angles about which to write it would make your head swim... but for me, that information has become trite and redundant... but, never about the loss of life which is wrong to me in so many ways.

Of course, there are those who are positive and there is nothing wrong with being positive until being positive prevents you from seeing the negativity at all because it does exist and it is better, in my opinion to know that it exists and ignore it than to be oblivious to it... because life is only real life when one suffers and finds a way to rise above.

Many of my friends and thousands of people I do not know, have battled cancer and are continuing to battle cancer and they walk tall, not because they are survivors or because they are still alive but because they have learned to appreciate life in all its multifaceted ways, including its negative side... it is just that its negative side has little influence on them anymore, but they recognize that it is still there and not only are mindful of it but respect it as well as a formidable foe.

There are couples that are just living together and there are couple that are married and in these couples there may be one who has experience extreme tragedy and there might be one that has not; and, there might be one who is a survivor or cancer and still living with cancer while the other one is not... and, one would think that these two situations would bring them closer together... but, it does not. It is kinda sad in a way but it is the reality of our life these days.

Unless you directly experience what someone else has or is experiencing, you cannot identify with that other person no matter how hard you try. You can understand, be sympathetic, and supportive, but in no way can you feel the emotional anguish and/or trauma that they might be experiencing... and, the other person is keenly aware of that fact, and whether they want to or not, an emotional barrier is built between the two, but both will admit that there is no barrier at all.

Then, there are those couples who are gentle and kind and pleasant and never get angry and never raise their voices when children are present or other people but in private and when the coast is absolutely clear, they fright like cats and dogs and oftentimes like children, saying extremely hateful things that can never be retracted... but, the world around them knows nothing of their disdain for each other... and, that is how life in America or anywhere else for that matter should be lived?

This life is precious and short.

Don't get me wrong Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not excluding myself in any of the scenarios as myself (like it or not) lives in all of them... and, it is a journey that weakens me emotionally and one that I wish that I did not have to experience, but I am and I do and I will survive as I always have... as Paul Simon hid inside his musical lyrics and books and I hide inside my thoughts and words... and, no one can take those away or keep them from rising to the surface of my mind.

My words describe who I am just like a photo might describe or capture an image in time. And, my words have changed over time... some for the better while others are for the worst... but, one cannot have good without evil or light without dark, otherwise there would be nothing from which to make a choice.

Many people fall short in grasping that concept, especially the super religious who believe God should supply us with nothing but good which is why most of us pray to Him in the first place. But, if we were to return to the Garden of Eden for a while, we would see that Adam and Even were blessed with nothing but good. Yes, they had free will and a choice but their choices were either Good or Good. It was not until the Serpent was introduce and a bite of the apple was taken, that evil was introduced and now Adam and Eve were given the opportunity to choose good or evil.

Consequently, we can NEVER do away with or remove evil because in so doing we remove our ability to exercise our Free Wills.

And, those people who are oblivious to the fact that evil does in fact exist are oblivious to the fact also that it is only the incorporation of evil into their lives that provides them with the ability to choose and exercise their free wills. To just ignore evil because one wishes to believe that it simply does not exist is, in my mind, the wrong path to take.

It is ironic to a certain degree how God who is undeniably good and pure and all powerful, MUST allow evil to co-exist with Him, in order to provide his children with the ability to have choice.

While this might not be the best story in the world to share, I will share it with my readers anyway... I understood this concept all too well early on, and when I got to college, I tried to seek out those females who were daughters of ministers, because they typically had never been exposed to all and I decided that it would be me that would provide them with this opportunity.

Today, the world has changed, and the sons and daughter of ministers are typically the ones who influenced all the others... yet, back in the home, one would never suspect that ANY of those thoughts would ever be inside their pretty little heads.