About One Person Who Followed A Calling

This cold Sunday morning (although warm compared to the recent sub-zero temperatures) I woke to discover that my car was blocked in the driveway. As I sat down to drink my first cup of coffee, wake up and contemplate what to do I picked up an old copy of an editorial page from the (Utica, NY) Observer-Dispatch that I had saved but never read. I had saved it because the title of the Op-Ed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. was, "Putting God between a rock and the wrong place." In this piece Mr. Pitts writes about Peter Kassig who had felt a calling to aid the innocent people of Syria who were caught in the violent struggles of the civil war there.

Mr. Pitts' comments can be found here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article4013642.html

There are numerous news stories that are the story of the moment given our 24/7 news cycle on cable TV that are here today and out of mind tomorrow as the new story of immediate importance pops up. The story about Peter Kassig could and was put into that category but as presented by Mr. Pitts there is an element of the story that is enduring and is perhaps to easily overlooked; that element is the reaction of Peter Kassig's parents. Because of their faith in the one God of many names they were able to forgive and move on; a task that many of us would find difficult if not impossible. As presented in the column, the choices of how people choose a path to follow God are held in stark contrast. Are paths chosen and then is god's name applied to them? Or does one listen to the call and then strike out on that path that God directs us to? It seems obvious that Peter Kassig listened and then began walking. It seems equally obvious that the rebels who killed him did not listen but began walking a path and then applied god's name to it. It seems equally obvious that Peter Kassig's parents choose a path of forgiveness that they heard God whisper to them.

Do we listen when God whispers to us? Do we strike out on that path that we feel directed to take or does it appear too rocky, too steep? We may not be asked to aid people in Syria or do some other dramatic task; but the questions do apply to us. I think that I have not always given the correct answer and taken the right road; but, God willing, other opportunities will occur.