THE CHOICE

Sunday night was the beginning of Season 4 of Downtown Abbey on PBS.  I've been waiting for this since they announced a Season 4.  No car chases or shoot'em up scenes, just pure British drama with amazing characters that hold their own, completely character-driven, which is what I can sink my heart into.

The first hour of the drama focused on Mary coming to grips with Matthew's passing.  It had been six months, and she still was not improving. Enter....the grandmother.

Grandmother to Mary: "You have a straightforward choice to make.  You can choose either death or life."
Mary: "So I should choose life"?

The Old Testament scripture found in Deuteronomy 30:19 also gives us a choice "......I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.  Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live..."

In contrast, the father had a very different idea of how to handle the grieving Mary.

Father to Grandmother: "She is broken and bruised and it is our job to wrap her up and keep her safe from the world".
Grandmother to Father: "No, Robert! It is our job to bring her back to the world".

I find I prefer the grandmother's way of handling things.  She doesn't back away.  She is focused on relationship.  She wants Mary to heal.  The father's way would keep Mary hidden, sheltered, trying to cover up and never talk about the problem and thus - never healed.

When I faced difficulties last year, the best medicine for me was to talk about it, keep it in the open, let people know what was going on, not to hide away and isolate myself.  The result was a healing for me, an acceptance of what I could not change and mostly....just moving forward, to enjoy living again.

What is your response to difficulties?

Are you like Mary's father? Do you want to hide away, pretend it doesn't exist, refuse to talk about it, keep yourself protected so it won't hurt so much?  Or is your response like the grandmother's?

We each have our own level of difficulties, but I encourage you to choose life today.  Open up and let the son shine in.  Let the fresh breeze of God's spirit blow into those difficult situations.  You don't have to hide anymore.

When you choose life, it is then God's job to bring you back to the land of the living, so let Him!

Think On This

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full".