Christian Living

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They were paused in front of a meat display case in the local grocery debating the relative merits of a pound of bacon when he said, "Aw, go on and git it--it all fries away anyhow!" Metaphor for life: reluctant resignation. And even though that doesn't sound too exciting, it's a more benign life philosophy than some others that are going around. They run the gamut from, "Life! What a crock. Get me outta here!" to "quiet desperation" to reluctant resignation to once in a while running into someone who actually seems to enjoy life. Is life a gift to be enjoyed--or a sentence to be endured? And what determines which it is? Circumstances beyond our control? Chance rather than choice? There is much empirical evidence refuting the latter ideas. You see happy people in all sorts of sad situations, and sad ones in seemingly the most advantageous of surroundings.

Circumstances do not mold our attitude toward life unless we allow it. The choice of how we view our existence is ultimately ours. If there is a pattern of negative choices, one after the other, for a lifetime, it eventually seems as if we no longer have a choice; we go through life on automatic pilot, repeating a pattern, good or bad or somewhere in between. But it's wonderfully freeing to realize that at any given time, a pattern can be broken, and one can make a conscious choice to see life as a quite remarkable gift, something to be treasured and enjoyed, not denigrated and barely tolerated. It's like throwing diamonds down a sewer: worse, because the gems could be retrieved--not so with life. People who come perilously close to death but survive often see for the first time how precious life is--and what marvelous potential just one more day holds. They are able to see and value the bounty of life as never before. It is sad that we have to be threatened with its loss before we can appreciate the privilege of living.

It is in the Master's plan that we should consider life a gift and enjoy it. Jesus came to give us life and that more abundantly. Peter tells us that if we would love life and see good days, we should refrain our tongues from evil and our lips that they speak no guile. The Book counsels us to become like little children. Children love life and choose to enjoy it, given half a chance. All the Beatitudes are recipes for happiness. God love His children and wants them to be happy. The word "blessed" is aptly translated "happy." It is the natural state of those who choose to receive and appreciate God's blessings. Again and again we are reminded to live rejoicing. Life is a gift to be enjoyed or a sentence to be endured, and the choice is inalterably and forever ours alone.

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