choices..

Choices are all around us. WE say that we want to have freedom. We say that we want to have innumerable, & unforseen options.. however.. when we get such moments of possibility we often only have confusion. Isn't this a strange anomaly? Isn't it so paradoxical? It is in such moments that we realize that with great freedom really does come great responsibility!!!

The more I know, the more I become a slave to my knowledge. The more wisdom I acquire.. the more I am ruined by possible answers that I must wade through in search of the one true answer to any given predicament. OH for the days of the 5 and 6 year olds that in any given situation only had two options: one = right & two = wrong.
Now.. one may = wrong & two may STILL = wrong.. but in a differing way.. or one may = right.. and two just = MORE RIGHT by virtue of quickness or general efficiency!

What is a modern example of such miserable choices that ruin. I will give you an easy one that is generally unnoticed: The bachelor. Also- The Bachelorette.

Can a man be ruined by a knowledge of multiple clear choices of love?
Can a woman be ruined by a knowledge of multiple clear choices of love?

I think the answer is yes.
How?

Well, this many options leaves a person evaluating and re-evaluating what love actually is to them. Now, it is not wrong for a person to clearly grow as a person into a realization that what they once deemed as love is not (in fact) love. However, what is the motivation for realizing such a thing? IF the motivation for this realization is a list of 30 people that you spend time with.. the your definition of love (by very virtue of the motivation that made you change it) is not going to be solid even in its newly realized state.

That definition would just change again given 30 different people to make you re-evaluate it again in a different setting with differing circumstances!

How obvious this must seem when it is stated out.. and yet it is the same in so many other situations and not just in love.

Sometimes we are better with only a few clear options or choices. Many choices may ruin a life... but only a few can solidify & uphold it.

Do you want to be the person with endless possibility and options.. or the person with only a few possibilities that are clear and concise as to truth & beauty?

There are many means to an end.. but only one end to a means.
The means of love are ever changing... but the end of love is simply.. more love.
The means and methods of dying are ever changing... but the end of death is simply.. always death... (and death only to be raised in newness of life *for the Christ follower* but still death must come first)

The means change.. the end has always been the same & will be.

But what about for the Christian, again?
OH yes.. it changes.. but yet is still the same.. in a way..

So then:

The means of love are ever changing... but the end of love is simply.. more love (which would make the end no end at all *another paradox*)
The means & methods of dying are ever changing... but the end of death is simply.. always death... (so then the death of death in Christ makes death no longer death but life instead!-- another paradox)

The means change.. the end has always been the same & will be (Jesus).
And so.. when Christ is involved even.. the secular notion still holds true in a way.. and yet Jesus changes it to have a new sort of meaning to it. So then the "ah-hah" moment is no longer an "ah-hah" moment.. but something realized from a series of previously collected bits of info & events & life learning.

Maybe this is why God is referred to as simply "I AM" in portions of the Old Testament. Hrmmm??? There is a beginning & an end & Jesus is to be both. And yet, he is also to be involved in the constant present ... not just the past and future (beginning & end). Maybe this is why community is so important? We wouldn't learn these things on our own.. but instead our collective societal efforts and talks and yearnings lead us to these things together.

So then.. would I rather have many many means when there is only an end of love or death? Wouldn't I much rather have only a few options (because the fewer options yield for a greater percent of getting it right and choosing love over death)?

However... our world is complicated.. and so.. we have an ever increasing realm of means.... from 1 billions to 2 billion to 3 and multiplied & squared & then cubed.
And still... the end result is either death or life.

-- No wonder Jesus said the way was narrow and that few would find it.
This becomes more true with each passing day of man.

-- No wonder James said that "The days are evil" & encouraged us to make the most of today while it is still called today!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not promoting minimalism here. Knowing how to do things many ways is a good thing... but is there a such thing as too much? Solomon would teach us that there is! He had more collective people & wisdom & knowledge & wealth under his thumb than anyone in history!!!!

Most people today would also recognize this in the way that a man who learns several trades will usually not be as good at any one skill than another man who picks one trade and devotes himself entirely to it. There are exceptions to every rule, but generally this would prove true.

So is the choice a friend or enemy then?
Is my choice to choose making me a slave?
Again, this screams of paradox!

"How can freedom make you a slave?"- you say.
I say- "Freedom from what.. in order to do what?"

We have become so amassed in choice that our choice is to be free to choose but not to know or realize what we are choosing or why or when or how. (or even where or to what extent)

WE have become lost to the details. We no longer care about the sub-possibilities within the one best option & the one worst option. Instead, we opt for the 30 million options that sound good on the surface.. but yield no meat amidst the deeper details.

We have paralyzed ourselves amidst the choices of where to move next.
What if we chose to be still? Would our choice to stand still and reflect keep us from crashing our brains and lead us to a better understanding?

So then, we stand still now in order to think and decide more effectively... or we effectively decide not to stand still.. and in the process end up paralyzing ourselves from decision (ultimately to be stuck standing still against our will).

Ah, does the paradox end?
Does the question end?
Maybe my question ends where your question begins?
Maybe my answer starts where your answer left off?

So then, we require togetherness.
There is no I anymore.

The better statement is: Was there ever really an "I" or were you & I just under a false impression from our "Freedom" that wasn't really freedom at all?

You see, even Adam was never alone. You say, "Rick, he was.. before God made Eve." To that I say-- "God did say 'It is not good for man to be alone'-- BUT, he also SAID it.. proving that HE was with Adam all along. Adam was never alone. And so.. even in Adam's loneliness there was no "I". (not in the sense that we see "I")..
Adam was never truly alone. God didn't mean alone the same way we mean "alone". Perhaps we should line up our vocabulary with his? Perhaps we should line up our character with his? It is the only way to more properly understand and live out this whole "love" thing. It is the only way to rid ourselves of this community blistering, love ruining concept of what we describe "loneliness" as.

WE are not alone. WE were never alone.

There was community.. between God and his creation.. God and Adam even. There was "WE" from the very start.

Perhaps the most important choice is that of sight or blindness, hearing or deafness... out of sight we react and move.. out of hearing we react and do.

WE need to move.. and we need to do. And yet, we are (in large) not a nation of movers and doers. We are (instead) a nation of critics & contemplation. The problem is that contemplation is only "in theory"... and "theory" is called "theory" because it is not PROVEN in action.

So are we sending out the message.. by not being movers & doers.. that Christianity is only a theory? If so, then we are effectively telling the world that Christ has not been and is not being proven.. but only thought upon..

Isn't Christ more than this?
Isn't Christ beyond the realm of the mere mind?
Isn't he all encompassing?
Isn't he everywhere?

Well, thoughts can't be everywhere folks. Thoughts are limited to the mind.
So, we have a problem. WE have been putting Christ within the limited confines of our mind's "box" for way too long.

I don't have to tell you.. but I will..
we have a choice to make today...
and maybe that choice will lead to another..
and maybe the choice to make that choice will lead to another still...
and another.... and another...