The church service this week was about choice. My twins acted the parts of the angelic spirit and the demonic one, each trying to lure the children into their camp. We grown ups watched, maybe making our own silent choices about which way we would lean. It was only an enactment, after all.
The prerogative to step toward kindness or self interest is the linchpin of being human. Not that spaniels can't be altruistic. I own a book titled Random Acts of Kindness by Animals, and the stories melt my heart. Like the elephant who strolled by a woman washing clothes in the river and noticed that her baby was getting too much sun. He paused to pluck a palm frond with his trunk to lay over the child, and kept walking.
But our time on this planet is arguably summed up by the internal decision to care for others.
Yet God resists strong arming us into that option. Not like when a magician does the card trick where he invites a volunteer to pick a card and manages to steer their fingers to the ace.
Our free will is the real deal. Coercion is not God's style, knowing that manipulation makes a less than permanent bond. He aspires to a covenant that neither bluster nor centuries can erode.
