Choices

The Dog Walker just strode past my window, walking determinedly up the hill, a small brown and white dog trotting beside her. She has walked dogs for years and her lean physique attests to that. I’ve seen that same small dog for years too and he has lost weight, due, I’m sure,  to those early morning walks. She chooses to go walking each day, summer or winter, and she and the dogs profit. She is sort of a fixture in the neighborhood.

This morning, I’m thinking about choices and their outcomes. Some things happen because we or someone else choose a certain pathway. Other things seem to happen because God ordained it that way. The deaths of the three policemen in Baton Rouge resulted from the awful choice of the shooter. Why did he decide to cause heartbreak and pain to so many affected people and more turmoil for an already hurting nation?

One of the most far-reaching and powerful choices anyone can make concerns words. Words heal or harm, promote peace or disaster. They warn, direct, calm, irritate, or bind up wounds. The memory of words we speak or others have spoken stays with us for years. Words shape attitudes and direct lives.

We must take responsibility for our own choices but not for the decisions of others. However, we can decide our reactions to those decisions. We are in control of our attitudes and our words. Realizing the impact and significance, let us ask God for wisdom as we make choices today.