I do not like to be told what I should do. When I hear someone say, “You know what you should do?” an off switch shuts off my hearing and my brain. Perhaps I am a true child of the sixties.
Why? Because usually such a person takes no thought about my age, experience, or situation. They just expound from their point of view.
I have learned to counter this by asking, “if you were me, what would you do?” This seems to slow them down a bit before they rant about their choice for me.
Life today is full of choices. The mundane: What to wear, where to go, when to leave, what route to take have little real result. What to eat, what to drink, when to sleep, what exercise program to use, these have a little more importance because they affect our health and our body is the package that contains the great gift of life. If we take care of it, it takes care of us. So, we balance protein and fat and carbs in a healthy diet and we choose to turn off the TV or power down the laptop so we can get enough rest. We take the steps instead of the elevator so we can keep the heart working, for without it life gets pretty short.
In a few words, we choose in favor of our lives.
God told Moses “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore CHOOSE LIFE that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
I was deeply touched by the article in the New York Times by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal published June 13, 2019 about her inner turmoil concerning her abortion. And never having been in her situation, I do not take liberty to judge her in any way and, in actual fact, have no idea what I would do if it was me.
That being said, there are those who, without regard to her personal situation and the risk of her child, will champion her right to decision and parade her as a heroine of the right to choose. What the Honorable Congresswoman was able to clearly relate was the anguish of having to make the choice.
Our nation is divided over this choice. I think the choice for life is the wiser choice. So, I am beginning to pray for those who think differently. That is: to go to their headquarters and park legally and turn on some worship, and pray for them. No man is my enemy. Though I feel very strongly on this issue, I realize that there is a force that brings death and a Savior who gives life and so, in the meekness of the Lamb, I will do what He is doing at the right hand of the Father who said “CHOOSE LIFE.”
The Governor of my state of Pennsylvania has publicly declared that he will veto any bill that prohibits the right to choose an abortion. I invite you to join with me in this gentle initiative to locate centers of life-taking activity and have a little quiet prayer time there. Pray. Just pray!
In my food, exercise, and life choices, but more importantly in my spiritual walk, I CHOOSE LIFE.
