Choices

You know, when humans come into the world they can't do much for themselves.

They breathe in and out, and when they aren't sleeping they blink, and move their arms and legs,

and they can suck on what feeds them at one end, and squeeze out what they don't need at the other.

But they don't know too much about what they are doing,

so God does all that for them from inside them.

And as they learn about themselves and the world around them,

they get to decide between different things they can do.

Not breathing and blinking, God still keeps taking care of that,

but what they want to look at and play with,

and where they want to move to.

They are free to decide those things for themselves,

they learn to want things,

but the problem with not knowing much about the world is that sometimes those things can be dangerous for them.

They need to learn to tell the difference between what is good for them

and what can hurt them, in all sorts of different ways.

They have to learn what they need and what to avoid

if they are to grow up healthy and happy.

They need to learn about themselves and the world around them, and the best way to live in it.

And to do that they need to find ways of understanding what their lives and the world around them are for.

So they learn most of that stuff from other people.

It's not a good idea to learn that fire burns you by sticking your hand into it because it looks pretty.

Other people, like parents, can tell you about how that hurts and keep you from getting burned.

And other people can show you the best way to make friends with other people,

loving them and being loved by them.

And they can help you to understand the meaning of our lives in this world,

why we are here,

not just the things that we can touch, see and hear,

but the invisible world behind it all that makes sense of everything.

They can show us a way of life that ties everything together.

What keeps us happy and healthy?

How can we know and enjoy who we are?

What makes sense of our lives?