Become the Cornerstone

I will keep this brief. Today I started doing "the small things" that are required to bring about great change. One of those small items is to pray and meditate daily.  I decided to focus on today's reading from Church. It hit home, hard. 

Here is an interpretation of a portion of Psalm 118. 

¹⁸ The LORD has chastened me severely,
   but he has not given me over to death.
¹⁹ Open for me the gates of the righteous;
   I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD
   through which the righteous may enter.
²¹ I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
   you have become my salvation.

 ²² The stone the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone;
²³ the LORD has done this,
   and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ The LORD has done it this very day;
   let us rejoice today and be glad.

I realize each person takes something different away from each experience, so I am not trying to tell you that my perception is the correct perception. I believe faith is individually, wonderfully unique. 

What I have come to realize after reflecting on this passage is that I have just been chastised. After my most recent set-back, I feel like the stone that has been rejected. Now the choice what I do from here is mine (as it always has been, it's just difficult to realize it). Do I react naturally and recede  quietly in the shadows. Should I become bitter and jaded towards an unfriendly world?  Do I roll-over in self-pity over what has happened to me? Or rather, do I reflect, grow, be glad, fight on and be thankful for this lesson that I chose to take.

This episode has been an incredibly challenging life lesson. The more challenging something is, the better it is, the more value it has. Right? That's the way I view my drills in basketball practice. 

To roll over and be filled with anger and self-pity is easy and natural.  The challenge is to grow from this so to become the cornerstone. Rejoice today and be glad. 

Peace, 

Coach Campbell