Loss

Last night I read an odd thought a character in a novel I'm reading had - she was glad she was an ugly woman because beautiful people had so much taken away from them as they aged. I think sometimes we are afraid of gifts - knowing that we will lose them - so much so that we would rather pass them by. Choosing, in other words to never love rather than to face losing what we love. I wonder how often we beggar ourselves for no other reason than this fear. But, as long as we are alive, there is always something to lose - which means perhaps some people opt for death rather than life. I always thought it rather humorous that God, in Deuteronomy 30:19, laid out for us two choices - a blessing and a curse, life and death - and then gives us a clue to "choose life." I thought God must have been rather exasperated at that point. Yet, it was a hint we really need because all too often we just don't get it.