I Have Come to Realize ...

... that our lives consist entirely of choices.  We spend each waking minute, whether at work, at play, study, or rest, deciding whether we’ll follow God’s will for us or not.  Each and every one of these moments are intersections, forks in the road of life.

As an adult, I can look back down the road which I've traveled and see how these countless little decisions, from the time I could reason until the present day, for right or for wrong, have formed me into the person I've become.  Habits, good and bad, virtues, vices.  I try to keep ever in mind that at the end of the road, it's those countless little decisions I've made throughout life, that have mapped and paved my way to my eternal destiny.

So sure, we take the wrong path sometimes, but do we learn from it?  Do we humble ourselves by getting up and begging forgiveness -- of both God and ourselves -- then take hold of His hand and start again?  If so, we’ve gained a greater understanding of ourselves and a greater perspective on God.  If not, we continue on our dark and winding path away from Him.

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The Love of a Father

Sometimes it's not easy being a father. Our children imitate what they've learned from us -- both the good examples, and unfortunately, the bad.  We try to pass on the wisdom we've learned by experience -- to help them avoid the same pitfalls that we've fallen into ourselves -- but often see them following the same paths.  We try to discipline but often exercise it imperfectly.

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Beginnings

One of the awesome things about Sacred Scripture is the way it creeps up on you.  You can read a passage or hear it read a hundred times and each time something new springs out.  Or like an onion, another layer gets peeled back. Sometimes a message or meaning is so obvious, so in-your-face, that you wonder how you could have missed it.  One day, I had one of those moments while I was reading Matthew's account of Judgement Day, as illustrated by the Separation of the Sheep and Goats, and became finally, understandably disturbed by its implications.

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