Fourth of July: A time of choosing

by Melanie Gruenwald

My husband and I were in the mountains this past week, enjoying the Colorado summer. It’s  a gift to live here, and to have time to bike, hike and explore together. We have been married almost 23 years. We’ve learned to navigate both quiet and busy and take advantage of good times together as a couple and as a family.

We moved to this state in 2008, when my husband assumed a pulpit at Hebrew Educational Alliance.

We’ve learned to flow with the tides of life, competing demands, supporting one another’s careers, while raising incredible children. We find time to be together- to move in the outdoor beauty- to smell the trees.

My ‘learning’ for this time away is about choice.

We have a choice in how we show up in adversity.

We have a choice of dignity and pride.

We have a choice how we connect to humans and other living things.

We have a choice to experience gratitude and wonder.

We have a choice in how we show up with and for one another.

We have a choice how we show up and love one another.

In our personal and communal lives, we always have choice to do better, to fight for justice and to pursue dignity.

Everything else will flow from there.

Enjoy your fourth of July weekend. Take care of  yourselves and the people around you.

What will you choose today?