I don't remember where I was going with this before, but I can wrap up one thought. I was at a family get together last night and was grilled with a hundred and one questions about what I believed in and was lectured on why it just was senseless to believe the way I did. When asked what I was in college for, I would reply "youth ministry in an urban setting" -- to help adolesents in dangerous situations-- I don't live in an urban setting now, but if I did move there, I would face the same dangerous situations.
"Why would you do that? That's mindless, that is. Do what you want to do, what pleases you." (because my family assumes this is not what I want to do)
I'd reply "Now most every young girl as she grows will dream of having her own child/ren one day and the moment her dream becomes reality, her priorities must change. It's no longer "I want to care for this child"; it's partially obligation, "I must nurture this child". And at that very moment, her life is no longer her own. Going into an urban setting, I make the same sacrifice, just a little bit more consciously; plus after some time, my life may lead me elsewhere while a mother's job shall never cease."
That makes sense to me, and I think that on any other occasion it would have made sense to my listeners as well, but it was late and everyone had a few drinks. And here's the confusing bit: my audience could have believed the exact same thing I did and they could still be fools. Why? It is the reason and not the thing itself, which makes a fool. I know I'm not foolish if I have a justifiable reason for the things I am doing. **Now I know this raises questions on who qualifies justice, but let's forget that for now** But simplistically, a person who lets others define his actions and shape his decisions might as well be a marionette dangling from six strings and nobody likes that prospect.
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