A Repost from 2014: "You Don't Choose A Life, You Live One."

Original article: https://wearethenewbarbarians.blogspot.com/2014/09/you-dont-choose-life-you-live-one.html

It seems appropriate to re-read this at this time.

"You Don't Choose A Life, You Live One."

This quote comes from a line the movie "The Way" that I watched this summer while at Fort Knox. In a nutshell, the story follows a widower whose only child dies on the Camino De Santiago (CDS) in Europe. As a last minute change of mind and heart, the father chooses to finish his son's pilgrimage, challenging and changing his own life. The CDS is a pilgrimage of about seven hundred miles. Many have died on the trail. Parts of the story are told through flashback discussions between the father and his son. The above quote is from one of those discussions.

In many ways our life's journey is much like a pilgrimage. Much like the father in The Way, we may think that we have our lives down pat. A career, a house, some adversity (but not too much) on the way, a family, yet, many people yearn for a more meaningful life. Some attempt to find this through faith, volunteerism, or diving more deeply into their career. Others chose drugs to "open" their mind. Sometimes we have to allow our lives to be altered in other ways. But what if there was a more profound way to change our lives and find meaning in it. One that accepts the journey, not just the destination.

Thoughts In The Light Of Our Current Holiday Season

Once again we are in the end of the calendar year holiday season.  Thanksgiving was very quiet here. I worked my normal shift at my job. My wife made an excellent, albeit small, Thanksgiving dinner for the family members that were here. Our oldest was spending the holiday in his chosen hometown. Our 2^nd and 3^rd oldest are still visiting relatives in Missouri. So it was just our two youngest, my wife, and I.  Our dog quivered with anticipation at the prospect of sampling tasty morsels of the left overs.

A Dying Culture. Soft Targets.

This is where we are at.

The talking heads on the TV talk with crocodile tears about lives being snuffed out by evil guns, yet, are all in the tank for abortion on demand. According to the CDC in 2013 there were over 650,000 "legal" abortions conducted. I would say that it is infinitely more dangerous to be a child in the womb than just going about your daily life.