Uplifted by Susan L.

There's a philosophy out there that is often repeated. I've read it as the opening line in several books. The moment I see it, I drop the book, horrified. It reads, " Everything has happened to us because of the choices we have made." Really?! Try telling that to a person who has been raped or the child who fell into the hands of a sexual predator. Would any one of us choose to have these terrible and traumatic events in our lives? I don't think so. What this twisted concept does is remove responsibility from where it belongs. I guess I am a bit angry today. More than a bit. It's been a rough week. Most of my struggles with mental illness are a direct result of the choices other people made. I got caught in the cross fire. I can't say as an innocent bystander but the term collateral damage fits. I know far too well my own short-comings, my mistakes...but choice? There wasn't any. I try not to judge others for their choices. Sometimes it's extremely difficult. And here's the crux of the matter. I didn't believe I had the right to make a choice. Thank You, Lord, that I now know I do. "Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them." Joel 3:7