“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption
Rather than start that debate, I’ll just say that it’s one of my favorite movies that I’ll usually watch if I come across it while channel surfing.
That and that it was the best quote I could find.
Well, it was the best quote I could find in the time I had.
I’m thankful for life.
It’s not always easy. It’s not always great.
More days than not it’s a challenge.
But it is also what we make of it. We can’t change our circumstances, but we can change how we respond to them.
I can’t change the fact that I’ve dealt with cancer twice in my life.
But I am thankful for the medical professionals who took care of me and provided the right treatment. I am thankful for friends who prayed for me and offered encouragement as I walked that journey.
Life is a precious gift.
That has come home to us over the last year as we’re not at the county of some fifteen family members, friends, or close acquaintances who have passed in 2021. Ironically, none from COVID.
But we have to tell you we’re a little weary of going to funerals.
At the same time, those funerals remind us that we should indeed be thankful for life.
And while I’m talking about how precious life is, I should say that I do indeed believe life begins at conception.
Here’s the bottom line, if the process of growing into a human isn’t unnaturally stopped, then that fetus is as viable as you and me. Not only that but science has yet to adequately define when life actually begins. At least not in non-barbaric terms.
Yes I’m saying this as a man. But I’m also saying it as a father who not once, but twice almost lost his wife and child due to high risk pregnancies.
While I tend to vote pro-life and while I actually have marched, I do think that I do more for the cause by doing things like supporting crisis pregnancy centers and encouraging adoption.
I didn’t start out to be political here. It’s just that I can’t talk about life without talking about life.
There are a lot of things I think I would have changed in my life. It’s that whole left turn in Albuquerque conversation again.
Mostly those changes involve taking better care of my health and my finances.
At the same time, I recognize that I’ve had some pretty incredible opportunities. More may actually be on the horizon…and no I’m not going to write about that now.
But as I sit in my over crowded office surrounded by the memories and treasures I’ve collect over the years, I’m thankful for this life.
But the next one is going to be out of this world.
Photo by Taylor Wright on Unsplash