The taste and the aftertaste

One of my favorite things is trying a new dish at a restaurant, savoring a new combination of ingredients and trying to identify new flavors.  What I taste appears before me on the plate.  What I remember --the aftertaste--is what lingers.

What prevails in our circumstances is both a taste and an aftertaste that lasts a very long time.  It is not just a memory, but often what shapes a life.  We all remember things that have been said to us that have either wounded us ...or built within us a strength.  More often than not, the purveyor of those words has NO idea the impact of those, often casually said, words.

Lashing out always leaves a wake of destruction in its path.  Always. Guaranteed.

But grace?

Grace reverberates for generations.  Grace heals.  Grace redeems. Grace restores.

I often told our girls that there were some things in my control, and some things were not.  What influences a situation most of all is not the circumstances nor the fault of other people but my own attitude.  One of my favorite quotes comes from teacher and pastor Chuck Swindoll:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company ...a church...a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.  And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes."

I can pass the blame
      or put on a different attitude in this.

Whatever I face today,
   may I seek the things above where Christ is.
May His Spirit invade,
infiltrate,
indwell
and intercede.

No matter what.

Rule in the midst of your foes.

                            Psalm 110. 2

Rise above the turmoil,
choose the high road through it,
and bring grace by the boatload.

What is that flavor I taste?
What aftertaste is left behind?
That which is bitter
        or what redeems?