More on free will... part 1

"How precious is man, created in the image of God." What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
Unlike other creations, the human being has free will. Within this divine spark lies our potential to shape and change the world.
Proper use of free will beautifies and perfects. Misuse of free will plunders and destroys.
It is a uniquely human endeavor to learn how to use free will properly.

"Free will" refers to the type of decision which is uniquely human: a moral choice.
But don't mistakenly think that morality is the choice between "good and evil."Everyone chooses to be "good" - even the most evil, immoral people.Rather, free will is the choice between life and death.

The Escape Route
Does anyone really choose death over life?!
We all want to be great. But achieving our goals takes a lot of effort. So we get distracted and take the easy route instead. The escape route.

It's Sunday afternoon. You're bored. You grab the remote and slump down into the couch. You could be using your time to learn and grow. But instead you choose the easier option of painlessly passing the afternoon... escaping into the world of TV.

Each day we are confronted with many escape routes. Daydreaming, drugs, checking our email for the seventh time this hour...
Killing time is suicide on the installment plan. And suicide is the most drastic and final form of escape. Consider:

A man is about to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. The television crews are on the scene. "The public has a right to know. Why are you jumping?"

"I lost 10 million dollars in the stock market! I'm devastated. I'm wiped out."

"Do you have anything left?"

"Well, between the chateau in Switzerland, the yacht, and the Rolls Royce, I guess I'm still worth about a million and a half."

"A million and a half! For goodness sake, that's more money than I'll make in a lifetime. You could really live it up! Besides, you made 10 million dollars once. So stick around. You could make another $10 million."

"True. But do you know how painful it is to lose 10 million dollars?"

Zoom - he jumps.

Why did he jump? He was relatively wealthy, and by his own admission he could have made more money. But he only focused on the overwhelming pain of his loss. So for this man, it was even more painful to face his problems and challenges.

Greatness lies in how we resolve conflicts - in using our free will to grow - not to quit. To face reality - not to escape. To live and not to die. When we escape problems, we escape the chance of becoming great. It's a constant battle every moment of our lives.