‘Choose Your Color’
I Was Thinking…
In an attempt to be consoling and comforting a friend said to her friend who was wheelchair bound, “Suffering does so color life, doesn’t it?” The reply came in a loving tone, “Yes, but I get to choose the color.”
What color are we choosing these days? This past week was difficult in that the frailty of human life was brought sternly to my attention. A dear and close friend to my two sons was killed in a boating accident on Lake Hartwell. His six-year-old son survived but he will live with the image of his dad’s death for the rest of his life. And a fifty-nine-year-old paraplegic wife and mother of two, grandmother of two died with unexpected health issues. She was undoubtedly one of the most loving and caring persons I’d ever had the privilege of knowing. She had been injured in an automobile accident at age sixteen and lived without the use of her legs for the remainder of her life.
I’ve listened to my sons grapple with a friend’s tragedy and I shared in the ‘Celebration of Life’ Service for the other. Life is fragile. Our response to the fragility of life, in many ways, dictates our living. What color are we choosing these days?
“Why them and not me?” Or “What if that were me or mine?” These are questions that flutter through our minds. They are healthy questions in that they keep us honest (so to speak). After all, none of us are going to live forever. But, by what color will we live our lives? Will we choose the dark and dim colors, or will we choose the bright and brilliant colors?
Often, I need help in choosing my color. I’m grateful for friends and family who help me choose bright and not dim. I’m grateful for the faith walk of many who have helped shape my ‘color selecting’ process. I’m grateful for a God that never gives up on me when I drift toward the dark and dim colors. This God loves me back into the bright and brilliant colors. This God sees in me what I sometimes have difficulty seeing in myself. I’m grateful.
It was Joshua who said, “choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) I think this is beautiful color to choose. How about you and your house? What color are we choosing these days?
Always Thinking…
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