It is a long list. The
weather, the seasons,
the coming of day and
night.
Another person's joy and
sorrow, or love and grief.
We cannot control anything
about another person,
most of the time.
The things we cannot
control
are more numerous than the
things we can.
The economy. The price of
milk.
The coming of storms or
the blooming
of lady slippers.
The return of the
hummingbirds,
or the death of poets.
If you are like me, you
sometimes imagine
you have more power than
you really have.
You try to control what
you can,
and even what you cannot.
You worry.
You want your children to
be happy and fulfilled.
You want your parents to
be healthy and content.
You want your partner to
be a good match, and loving.
You may want the members
of your church
to be enthusiastic and
generous,
and your church staff to
be talented and never to move away.
Big things or small
things, no matter.
There are long lists of
things we cannot control.
We want for all children
to be safe, and girls who are lost to come home again.
We want angry young men to
work out at the gym
and never to buy large
amounts of guns and ammunition.
We want politicians to be
dedicated to the common good,
and news media to the
truth.
We cannot control anything
about another person,
most of the time.
We cannot control another
person's joy and sorrow, loss and grief.
We cannot control the ways
that joy and sorrow come into our own life.
But there are a few things
we can control.
We can choose the values
we want to follow in our own lives.
We can choose to speak up
and act
in ways that share our
values with the world.
We can choose to greet a
stranger
and listen to a friend.
We can choose kindness. No
matter what.
We can choose to love.
(and love ourselves too)
May you find the places
of choice in your life, and be at peace about all that is out of our
control.
Rev. Myke
