Many Lanes, One Road

Having surrounded myself over the past few years with some amazing followers of Christ, the more I see how God moves and prepares His children to hear His Word, obey it, and thereupon share it with others. He speaks through media, music, art, poetry, books, meetings, and relationships, to name a few. We are travelling on a multi-lane superhighway.
We are all on the same road, but there are many lanes. You may prefer the middle lane, your spouse the left lane, and I the right. When we all look up at the signs, however, the destination is the same.
Be wary of individuals who prescribe only driving in the left, right, middle, etc. They have forgotten we are all on the same road. "But the view is so much clearer over here," they will say. "You should really consider merging over with us, you will get there so much quicker."
Are we not all on the same road? Do we not all have the same direction? And upon arriving, if we ask whether the lane was the right one, an even bigger question could be asked of us, "What does that matter to you? Follow Me."
There are people who take detours, premature exit ramps, wrong ways, u-turns, and the like. To those people we have an obligation to let them know the goal is up ahead, not in the rest stops and convenience stores that tempt us with a false haven. Identifying them is obvious--their vehicles have left the road completely or are stopped alongside it.
What is to be said for those of us who are looking ahead, along the same road? Are the energies we expend directed on the premise that we should all be in the same lane? Why do people strive to do so, or frown upon those that differ?
It is because they don't realize you and they are headed in the same direction. My suggestion? Smile, wave, and keep driving.
You may not like reading, that is the left lane, you are in the right. Another may not like pre-dawn Bible studies, that is the left-center lane. The bigger question to be asked is, "Are we united by our common purpose? Are we on the same road, or have you taken a detour?

The Art of Denial

I am surrounded by men who refuse to take a look at their own lives and realize they made terrible decisions. Accordingly, I daily must review my own choice making and decide if the choices made were the best out of the available ones.
I am amazed at how much effort and energy people take to disavow responsibility for their situation, speedily transferring blame, justifying, rationalizing, etc. With the plethora of excuses I have heard over the years I am convinced that a human being can justify any and every type of poor decision making and behavior that has ever been conducted by humankind.
Looking back at history's evildoers and contrasting them to the ones I work with, the conclusion arrives that men such as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, et al, were convinced they had justification for their actions. I am positive of the fact. A man can brainwash himself into thinking just about anything.
Turning inwards, therefore, and examining my own thought patterns, has become a daily routine of self-examination and difficult introspection. Never allowing myself to judge my behavior with those of the lawbreakers, but of the possibilities that arise within my own conscious, provides me with the appropriate information to make sound choices.