The Spirit Moves In Wondrous Ways

In a previous post, “To Hurt Is Human, To Suffer Divine” (January 18, 2023), I had observed that, “We are a product of our choices and when human beings make destructive moral choices, we should not blame God for the consequences or expect that He will save us from ourselves.”  Rereading that, I recalled a poem I had seen years ago; searching, I was able to find it again and now I want to share it with you here:

The Gift of Choice

I came into the world without being asked,

And when the time for dying comes I shall not be

 consulted;

But between the boundaries of birth and death lies

 the dominion of Choice:

To be a doer or a dreamer,

To be a lifter or a leaner,

To speak out or remain silent,

To extend a hand in friendship or to look the other 

 way,

To feel the sufferings of others or to be callous and

 insensitive,

These are the choices,

It is in the choosing that my measure as a person is

 determined.

– Gertrude Housman

A young patient, three or four years old as I recall, had just been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. His father, a big man with many tattoos visible on his neck and arms, as a child had eye witnessed his own father being gunned down in a gang-related shooting. Upon hearing the news from the pediatric oncologist, he fell to his knees in tears asking why God was doing this and asking His forgiveness for what he had done with his life, all in the same breath.

It’s one thing to know we must live with our own choices – it’s something altogether different when we think those choices hurt others, especially the innocent. I certainly don’t believe in a God that punishes children for their parents’ mistakes; some parents manage to do that entirely on their own in the name of choice.

So, are we “a product of our choices;” is that what weaves the drama of our lives together to define our true identity? The word “choice” has found an interesting and provocative place in our current culture. It seems to have become equated with a fundamental freedom, an entitlement; except perhaps, as the poem suggests, for those entering the world or those leaving it.

Wherever you stand in the debate about abortion or assisted suicide, this may be a good time to revisit another of my earlier posts, “Freedom to Love” (November 28, 2023), where I address freedom and responsibility; I assert that true freedom of choice is not doing what we want, but rather what we ought – to give our love freely in the service of others. 

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.” 

– St. Thomas Aquinas

In rereading the poem above, I was awestruck by the raw reality in the statement about our choice-making, “It is in the choosing that my measure as a person is determined,” and wondered if you were too. Just as the thief on the cross crucified next to Jesus learned, it’s never too late to seek and find the loving mercy of God, whatever our life choices have been up until then.

For you created my inmost being;
     you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully  

  made; your works are wonderful, I know that 

  full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was  

 made in the secret place, when I was woven 

 together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days 

 ordained for me were written in your book 

 before one of them came to be.

– Psalm 139: 13-16

Reflection Questions:

1.) Think about your day today and the choices you made; how might they relate to each of the following:

 - Doer or Dreamer

 - Lifter or Leaner

 - Speaking Out or Remaining Silent

 - Offering Friendship or Turning a Blind Eye

 - Empathy or Apathy

In that light, is there anything you might have chosen differently?

Scripture References

Psalm 139: 13-16