INAUGURAL SPEW...

Well now...what a day of days to splash my first post on this site. Yes race fans...Valentine's Day it is. The kind of occasion I rank right up along those other noteworthy phenomena like root canals and unscratchable itches. OK...perhaps not that bad. Although some of my experiences of this day are fit for a Comedy Hall of Fame, if there is such a thing. Anyway, to whomever may be reading this, heartfelt greetings to you wherever and whenever in the world this message might find you.

True love. What exactly is that? How do we recognize it when it appears? How do we cherish and protect if once we've found it? How do we handle the disappointment of always being eluded by it? Is there such a thing as a genuine soul mate...that one person that God has destined for us to spend our lives with, before the foundations of the world were formed and laid. Or does God present us with a number of potential companions during the course of a lifetime, and permit us the freedom to choose one over another? Personally, I don't believe these statements to be mutually exclusive. The one thing I'm increasingly aware of about the Creator of the universe is His defiance of any box or neat little file we could try to categorize Him in. And His dealings with us His children are as perpetually unique as the very children that He has fashioned in His image.

Essentially, I believe that both of the scenarios previously mentioned are possible, and in some cases they are intricately entwined. Just because God has purposed for me to be with someone, it doesn't nullify or lesson the value inherent in my choosing to spend my life with them. No more than God enabling me with certain gifts and talents, and my choosing to embrace them and to pursue a calling that utilizes them. I could argue that the traits He created me with left me with little choice with regards to the course my life would take. But that completely dismisses my discernment in recognizing them, my courage in pursuing them, and my faithfulness is cultivating them. Now...a word of caution is required here I think. Just because someone was destined to be my companion does not give me the right to shake an angry fist heavenwards when the relationship falls apart. This is a error that people have often fallen into. "Lord...the woman YOU gave me led me into this...", said the man Adam. God may have ordained for two people to be together, but the responsibility to grow, protect and nurture their union is theirs, and theirs alone. If one thinks, as I do, that cases exist where two people were specifically meant for one another, there is as much requirement for commitment, loyalty, honesty, devotion and selflessness as in any other scenario...until death do them part.

It's a very intriguing and fascinating concept, predestination...whether in regards to relationships or other issues. The days of my life were all written out before I was formed in my mother's womb. That is what God's eternal word says of me. Does that mean that my gift of choice is eliminated? Does it mean that I am just some cowering mouse running inside a cosmic maze, at the mercy of an inflexible path? I think not. The maze is wide open...every interlinking corridor and passageway accessible for exploration. It's just that the infinite mind of a loving God sees my journey outside of the constraints of time and space. My choices, hopes, dreams...all laid bare before Him.

In this maze of life with it's seemingly paradoxical randomness and rigidness, my course in it is absolutely clear in the mind of God...as if there never really was any other option open to me at all. In life and love...I am like a mouse running along the paths I choose...with alternative options and avenues whizzing constantly by. I have every choice in the world available to me. My heavenly Father sees those choices as good as made. My path has always been known and fixed...in an endless maze of possibilities. This is the beautiful mystery of the mind of an adoring, hopeful, omniscient Father.