In fact, everywhere I turn lately I hear discussions on decisions and what they mean for our lives. Of course, this is the primary focus of my website, so my angels know that any time I hear something on the subject it gets my attention. It can be in places like TV programs, webinars, and casual conversations with friends or even strangers. Everywhere I go, the subject follows me.

As an example, the other day I was clicking through the channel guide to see if there was anything interesting on TV when I came to one that said it was “music from Cape Town”. Because I lived there once and really enjoyed the local Bantu music, I thought it might be interesting, so I turned it on. It did appear to be a stage show in a large auditorium, but there was no music at the time. Rather, there was a guy in jeans and tee shirt, with shoulder-length stringy blonde hair. He was walking back and forth, and had a demeanor much like that of a stand-up comic. He was in the middle of a story, which I quickly deduced was part of some kind of sermon. I almost turned it off, but then I heard the name “Esau” and the word “decision”, so it instantly peaked my curiosity.

I hastily retrieved from my memory banks bits of some long forgotten Sunday school lessons from my childhood about the story of Jacob and Esau. I recalled that they were sons of Isaac, and as such it was their birth right to inherit the prestige and wealth of their father. I seemed to recall that Jacob was the favored son because he always chose the “right and responsible” path. But playboy Esau did only what pleased him at the moment, without any thought for “the greater good”. That hippy-looking preacher explained how Esau came home one day hungry and asked Jacob for something to eat. He was told he would have to wait until dinner with the family, but he didn’t want to wait. So Esau offered to trade his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. He didn’t value himself or his birthright, so he casually chose to give it up to satisfy his hunger, and his life was forever changed.

The message of the sermon was that all people have value, and all decisions matter, regardless of their size or scope. And that if people do not recognize their own value, then spur-of-the-moment decisions can send them on a path far away from their purpose in this life. He told us to always remember that we each have value in the world, and we should make sure that all of our choices will enhance that value, not detract from it. I was astounded, because this is exactly the message that I also hope to deliver with my book HELLO MYRMIDON.

If I just stop here then this story is a very simple and straightforward example of this message. But because I had come in “in the middle of the movie”, so to speak, I knew there must be more to the story. And when I googled it I confirmed that the real story was far more complex. So tomorrow we will look closer into the story of choices made in the lives of Jacob and Esau, and see what more we can learn from them about decisions.