Joy 6/82: Choice

While Missy and I were on our walk this morning, I started thinking about choice.  The choices that brought me to this place I feel so connected to, the choices, good and bad ... and even the ones made by others ... that are reflected in my life today.  The freedom to make choices is a part of our lives that we often take for granted while a great swath of the world lives with far fewer choices.

As my inbox fills up with requests for contributions for the upcoming election campaign, I think about the choices that face us as individuals and as a country.  The tea party explosion has given us even more choices, more options to think about and consider.  And, as I think about their cry for less government, I walk on a paved road (government), pass banks of mailboxes (government), think about the incredible beauty of Yosemite National Park (government), breathe clean air (government), in a land unmarred by war on our own soil (government), and head back to my cozy home paid for in part by my Social Security check (government).

Like most of us, I don't like paying taxes and often think that government policies are screwy.  But, all in all, we are blessed to live in this country ... it is far from perfect ... but it's my home and it's my choice to live here and pay the taxes necessary to keep it functioning in a way that keeps us safe and free.  It's also my choice to support everyone else in their choices ... because freedom was one of our first choices as a people.  But, as we enter into this season of contention and strife, wouldn't it be nice if we would all choose to listen ... with courtesy and civility ...  to all the possibilities and then make the best choices for our collective future and the future of those who follow us and who will live with the choices we make today?

I often think about what the world will be like when my granddaughters (9 and 5) grow up and wonder whether they will have the same abundance of choices we have enjoyed.