In a sane world, it should be easy for all of us to choose. Heads. Tails. But in the insanity of it all, someone flips, and you must live with the consequences. It’s not as bad as the luck of the draw when it could be one of 52 options. No. It’s heads or tails.
Must we live with their choice? Or do we get to make our own? Again. You choose, right? Or, they do.
Across the country and around the globe, everyone is struggling with making the right choice. Better choices. Some want to make all the choices, and others don’t want anyone to choose but themselves. We use the same argument of “my body my choice” for things we want to force others to accept but then refuse to accept the same logic when the situation twirls on a dime. Civil service? My choice. Force vaccination. Not my choice? Apply this same coin flip to any other scenario played out in the news: Vaccination, Gender-affirming procedures, Abortion, Right to Carry, Who gets to Vote, etc. Do you get the picture?
Logic should equally apply to any fluid situation until such time that law mandates the answer. Right? Maybe.
On one side, it’s like choosing Heaven or Hell. Are we willing to let someone chose their religious beliefs, or do we want to get rid of the opiate of the masses? You may change my world, but you will not change my heart, nor mind.
Strange Times
I’m sure it’s been said about other decades or centuries. These are strange and strained times. There are too many fences standing in the way of personal choice. Someone wants to force me to tear down my fence and merge into their pasture.
I heard it put like this: Keep slicing off the outward options, force everyone to merge their ideas, and before long, there will be only two options. Heads. Tails. It’s not even my original choice, but the one that forces us together “for the greater good.” Only, who gets to choose what’s good or not? You? Where’s my voice? My vote?
The bible is full of these moments. Making choices. Getting off the fence, one side or the other. Follow Jesus, or not, it’s really up to you. I was thinking about Jesus and a certain situation. He had been speaking about a subject, and his own disciples responded:
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said,
“This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
(John 6:60 NKJV)
Jesus responds, and many don’t like the whole scenario, so they quit following him. (John 6:66) (Oh! No! 666!)
The Silent Vote
Choosing to vote expresses your desires. When you do not vote, you’ve made a choice. What choice is that? Others decide for you. That’s your silent vote.
Back in the 90s, I worked with a guy who kept threatening to move to Australia. He was tired of the direction our country was taking, and he threatened to leave. “Go! We don’t care.” Hmmm. I don’t even remember his name. Of course, we do care. Leaving is not the solution we think it is. There are no greener pastures nor higher planes, for everything is imperfect everywhere. This is my place to stand up, so let’s affect change in the “here and now.”
I was raised conservative on many fronts. Though my stance is not in question, the world has changed a lot. What we faced “back then” is no longer the threat we thought, or a new position has won over the populace. It’s like choosing whether to spend the extra money to get FM radio in that old jalopy. It was so new back then, the units so fragile, most of us remained happy with the AM band. Sure, music supposedly sounded better on the FM dial, but when you have no options, then you live with what you have.
Options were fewer in number, so it was easier to make a choice. Today, you stand at the grocery store’s bread aisle, and it’s 100 feet long with more than 100 options.
Here’s My Thought
“Lead. Follow. Or get out of the way.” Yes. It was a bumper sticker, but it’s stuck with me for years. Some don’t mind being at the end of a long line of cars. Maybe that’s where they feel the safest. While others are trying to determine speed, direction, and “Oh, no, I missed my turn!” reactions, producing a chain reaction of ditch divers, I have a different plan.
“All things being equal, if we are headed the same direction, then I want to be in front.” ~me
Often, I’m most interested in heading the direction I want to go and not willing to wait on you or others to make their choice. I’ll run the gauntlet of police radar, rapid decisions on better paths, and if you want to go faster, then pass me. I’m not worried. I know where and how I run.
When I quit trying, then I just as well stay at home. That’s not my nature. Get up. Get going. Get’er done!
How about you? Are you making choices or letting others choose for you?