Choosing
I’m writing this devotional from the Providence, Rhode Island Airport. I am a nervous traveler and need to arrive at the airport early, so we’re killing some time. We’re in Rhode Island because when we started dating, we decided to see all 50 state capitol buildings. And it doesn’t count unless we can go into the building. We went to Providence and Hartford, Connecticut, which were capitols 38 and 39, respectively. I’m so thankful we’ve made this choice. I have no idea how other people decide where to travel, but for us, we frequently build our vacations around visiting a capitol. It’s worked out splendidly. America is big and diverse. We need a way to help us choose a destination.
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Swartz was one of those life-altering books that I read many years ago. Swartz divides humans into maximizers and satisfiers. Maximizers thrive on infinite possibilities (and infinite time to evaluate those possibilities). Satisfiers thrive on limited choices. I am a satisfier. Too many choices and I succumb to analysis paralysis. Swartz offers workable solutions for both camps. I wear the same Naturalizer brand shoes every day. I’ve purchased at least 12 pairs of them to this point, despite all the thousands of options for other shoes, several of which look exactly the same from different brands. I’m usually very content to limit my choices, and not think about my decision to buy new shoes.
The stewardship theme of All Creatures Great and Small seems like it would be an overwhelming choice because “All” is a big number. However, it’s an easy choice because it means everyone. I don’t need to choose which people are in the group and which are “other.” It’s not a decision at all.
Sometimes people need limits to make more and better choices. If we hadn’t decided to visit capitols, I don’t know if we’d travel as frequently as we do because of analysis paralysis. Because we’re getting close to finishing our capitol list, we’re already talking about how to choose destinations in the future (e.g., baseball stadiums, presidential libraries, national parks). Peace makes so many choices easy for us. We love the open, expansive vision where the only choice that Peace offers is to love everyone. That’s why we’ll continue to support Peace during this stewardship campaign and hopefully many more to come.
Creator,
Our world is filled with so many choices. Limiting our choices can be freeing, but also loving everyone can be easy. We can love each other, every single other.
Amen
Michelle is a Program Analyst with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She’s a wife, mother, sister, and friend, a chocolate and coffee lover, reader of books, listener of podcasts, and a travel enthusiast.