Choices

I have been reading daily reflections by Henri Nouwen and I ran across the following passage about making choices. It reminded me of a conversation between me and a fellow missioner back in New York. We were talking about the concept of things happening for a reason. I’ve never been one to subscribe to the line of reasoning that “everything happens for a reason” because there are just too many senseless, awful things in the world. Poverty, untimely death, suffering, injustice.

I would much rather subscribe to the following thought. It allows me to remember that I can’t control everything in life, but I always have a choice in how I handle the good and the bad that comes my way.

Choices. Choices make the difference. Two people are in the same accident and severely wounded. They did not choose to be in the accident. It happened to them. But one of them chose to live the experience in bitterness, the other in gratitude. These choices radically influenced their lives and the lives of their families and friends. We have very little control over what happens in our lives, but we have a lot of control over how we integrate and remember what happens. It is precisely these spiritual choices that determine whether we live our lives with dignity.

-Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith