God has given us the gift of free will.  We are allowed to choose how we will respond to everything.  When you think about it after everything that God has experienced with the human race…why did He do this?  After all the things humans have chosen to do wrong starting with Adam and Eve, why allow us to choose?  I believe it is because real love, joy and goodness offered voluntarily is the only kind worth having…the risk, of course, is we are filled with sinful hearts and minds and we often choose poorly and that is why bad things happen in the world.  Use your free will to offer goodness, kindness, love and joy to others.  Amen.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command:  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 near Arches National Park in Utah)