Life As I Seize It

When bad things happen to us, our first reaction is "why me?" When good things happen to others, often, in our flesh, our initial reaction is "why not me?" Oh, we are happy for the other person, for their good fortune, but inside, in that secret place, we think to ourselves: "Why not me? After all, I'm a good person, aren't I?  I mean, Why not me ?" It's a wail, a plea to 'the universe' because of the 'unfairness of it all'. We might even tell ourselves, I'm a  much  better person that he (or she). Why not me? In our humanness, we want the good, but not the bad. It's only natural.  Who wants to just "get by" when the alternative is wealth?  We see wealthy people who win the lottery, and say, "You have to be kidding!" Someone who didn't need "it" won the big payout, and we ask . . . why not me ?  Why can't we hit the jackpot or be the surprised heir of some distant relative...

Written December 12th. 2009. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior.  ~ Sir Francis Bacon For some time God has been interrupting my life.  When God interrupts it is usually unexpected, often unwanted, and generally poor timing . . . at least on my part. Lord, I'm kind of busy at work right now . . . Lord, I just can't take time . . . Lord, I am not the one who should be apologizing . . . and on and on I go, arguing with God.  When does arguing with God ever accomplish anything? A few months back someone in my family acted in an inappropriate, mean, and most un-Christian way towards me; I was hurt and surprised, but considering a lifetime of selfish behavior from this person I have no idea why I was caught off guard.  In retrospect, I think I was stunned because I am generally the peacemaker in my family; besides, we are orphans, all grown up and beyond past misconceptions and hurts, or so I t...