Choices Choices Choices 3

I want to continue to talk about the choices that we make. Tomorrow I will be taking about different paths that we can take based on Paul's conversion and the poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken." We are presented in life options of what is possible. Sometimes we seem to find ourselves caught up in a situation and wonder what we did to find ourselves in such circumstances. I know that I often had people tell me that they did not do anything or make any decisions that led them to their predicament. They would claim that they had no other choice. While I would agree about certain natural disasters or genetic conditions, but for most there has been choices recognized or not that have led them to their situation.

When I was counseling, I came across this poem that I would use as an allegory that might help people recognize that very little in life is done without decisions on our part. The problem is that one may not realize or recognize that they are making those decisions. I had lost who had written the poem but found this on the internet.
“There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk“, by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1.

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I cant believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… its a habit.
But, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5.

I walk down another street.

What strikes me about this and the lection for Sunday is that Paul was walking down a path that had a huge hole in it. When Jesus confronted him, he began the process of realizing the decisions that he was making. He then walked down another path and thank God for that. So when I am tempted to say that what is happening is not my fault, I need to recognize the decisions that I make that have contributed to the problem as well as the decisions that I can make to remedy the problem. Too often we are quick to be critical and offer not anything as a means of resolution. Even in times when what is happening may have nothing to do with our choices, such as natural disasters, how we respond is our choice. Let us choose that way Christ would want us to choose with love, grace, mercy, and charity.