Options

The sky is one sheet of grey this morning.  No bumps or holes where another color might peek through.  The temperature is at 65 degrees fahrenheith.  Today is Thursday.

We have so many choices to make every day.  It can be dizzying if one has to be conscious in every decision that has to be made.  The bigger decisions, the ones that are beyond our reach seem to be the ones that are the easiest:  "commit to peace" or "be aware of your carbon footprint" or "act with love and compassion".

But doing it and making sure to pick the option that makes each choice meaningful is where the challenges reside.  The challenges are in the details.  The saying, "the devil is in the details.", rings so true.  

It's easy to say one will be committed to peace.  And in small ways, we can do this - like avoiding unnecessary arguments, keeping thoughts and comments separate, moving out of the way to avoid being hit by another who isn't watching.  But on a bigger scale - one realizes that peace is not really something that is within the realm of one's choice.  We live in a world where there are blocks of power, as in the United States of America, Russia, China, and North Korea – all of which are in the news today.

In the stories, there is talk of conflict - indirectly.  Why have stories about presidents of nations who will commit to one another?  What is that story really about?  It is about a choice to create a power bloc that will easily transform into a war ally.  

In the stories about disasters - floods and quakes, there were no options for the thousands of people who died and those who suffer because they survived.  The power blocs were irrelevant - because the universe doesn't care about borders or political philosophy.  The universe doesn't have options or choices - it just reflects who and what we have chosen for ourselves.  

The deepest connection we have to the physical world and how we choose to act in our everyday lives can't be ignored any longer.  We have a huge question looming before us - it has to do with generations that will live well beyond our own lifetimes. It is not a question life and death, but a far more modest question, "How do you live?"

This question allows us to consider every opportunity to choose, until there comes a moment of choiceless choice.  And that is when we arrive at our most natural way of being.  One is able to really see with eyes wide open what the world has to offer and the myriad of ways in which we can manifest why were are here to begin with – that is to offer one another a chance to choose life, love, kindness, care.

The countries recently devastated by storms and quakes and fires and floods all could use whatever we can offer.  Prayers are a good place to start.