We decide.
Every day, over and over again, we choose.
There are basically 2 ways to live your life……..two paths.
In almost every choice that we make, the path that we choose colors our decision.
Kindness and anger.
We go through each day…….and things happen to us, around us, and to the people around us. Some of these things are good, others are terrible. Such is life. Much of what happens to us is completely beyond our control. But, how we respond to these events is completely in our control.
We are not responsible for the things that happen to us. We are completely responsible for how we react to the things that happen to us.
As I taught my sons: when trouble rears its head and you are seeking a solution, focus on the parts of the problem that you can control. Often this is a tiny, but powerful part of the problem. Control your response……because you cannot control the event.
Kindness and anger. Each of these has things that go with it.
Kindness:
Generosity
Love
Concern
Forgiveness
Forbearance
Anger:
Vengeance
Blame
Hate
Bias
And many more
There is no question that we are shaped by our life experiences. Cindy and I have had more than our share of tragedies. But, overall, I would say that we have been blessed. When things are going well, it is easy to be kind. It costs us very little. At the other extreme, I know a man who has had a much harder life. It seems as though bad things just keep happening to him. It is very easy to choose anger, when the system is out to get you.
Still, the choice is yours.
Job was blessed in his early years and he was a righteous man. Easy. Then, the blessings were ripped away. Tragedy stalked him. This stage of his life was much harder. His wife had an answer for his predicament: “curse God and die!” Job’s response was much harder to do………Job remained righteous. This is the lesson of the book of Job. The book of Job has nothing to do with why tragedy strikes. The book of Job is all about how we respond.
“Gimpel, the Fool” by Singer is the story of a man who was abused by life and everybody around him. And yet he chose kindness. I read this short story in college. It changed the trajectory of my life. Only the Bible has influenced me more. You really need to track it down and read it.
We live in a culture that teaches us to respond to bad things with anger. That’s what our heros do. That’s what the talking heads on our devices tell us to do. That’s what Clint Eastwood would do.
But that’s not what our creator tells us to do.
What our creator asks of us…….what our creator expects from us……..is kindness…..even in the face of tragedy………even in the face of abuse.
“I am Gimpel the fool. I don’t think myself a fool. On the contrary. But that’s what folks call me.”
Gimpel, in “Gimpel the Fool”
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Job responding to tragedy, Job 1:21-22, ESV