CHOICES

Do you know the slogan, “BBC Northern Ireland- what life’s all about?” What do You think? Let’s take a look at some of the alternatives: ITV1; ITV2; ITV3, Channel 4; Channel 5; E4; E4+1; RTE; RTE2,; Sky One; Sky Sports and about 100 others. If I can get my hands on the remote, which I can do if I am in the house alone, I could spend the whole evening flicking through the alternatives, getting tiny glimpses but really seeing nothing. In fact, by the time I have flicked through them all I need to repeat the process, as I have forgotten what came first- was it Neighbours or Home and Away? Or was it Friends or the O.C? Or maybe it as the Simpsons! Getting that very welcome cup of coffee is not easy either- it could be Cappuccino, Espresso, or Latte. It could be black or white. Will it be instant or percolated, filtered or in a caffatiere? With sugar or without? Then it could be Brazilian or Kenyan and it could be fairly traded or not. In the end I decide that it must be fairly traded- [I have a responsibility to make sure, as far as it is possible, that the profits are fairly shared] filtered decaffeinated Brazilian. Then I make the decision to watch the next episode of Friends [a repeat, of course]. Unfortunately by now the episode on E4 is over and the one on E4+1 is half way through! I console myself that decisions are difficult to make, because, we are spoilt for choice, but, in this case, choice has prevented me from seeing the very thing I wanted to see! In the Old Testament Joshua tells the people that it is time for them to choose: “…if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then chose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether gods your forefathers served beyond the river or the gods of the Amonites, in whose land you are living. But, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Now that is an important choice. Wake up and smell the coffee.