Dissecting life: the anatomy of choice
“No man should marry until he has studied anatomy
and dissected at least one woman.”
Honore de Balzac.
Well, maybe a bit extreme, but you get the idea. So instead, let’s dissect ourselves. Let’s you and I take our life now. Imagine it before you – there it hovers in all its weird shape and form. Pick up the scalpel.
First, let’s cut away the trappings and snip the string that binds it to the myriad of achievements from yester-year. All those things we hold before others in the hope it’ll make them admire us. Those stories we hold ready for cocktail parties and the stranger’s first question “What do you do?”
Then strip off the closer trappings of fancy cloths, expensive car, cell phone, or those must-have shoes. No masks now.
What do we have? A body, with strange curves and bulges and bumps and funny colours – bits that we’re proud to show off, bits we hide away, altogether an odd thing.
Now cut away the soft curves, the six-pack or the pretty smile, bulging biceps or tanned skin, all the outside body stuff. Inside we have … well, things. Icky things that look bad. Ok, well at least these bits will be no great loss (at least visually). Imagine now that we remove all the insides… the meters and meters of intestine, those muscles we were so proud of, it all goes till we’re left with just the skeleton. Go grind that up.
What’s left? A soul, nothing else.
What can a soul do? Choose.
That’s all we can do. Choose this path, or that one. This passage, or the other. Each moment all you can do is choose a future.
Listen to God: Read Heb 4:12
Now read: 2 Cor 6:17-18
Now Choose