What choices have been irreversible? What decisions have continued to ripple through your life ever since you made them? This question resulted from the cross-pollination of two books that I’m reading right now. The first book is “Tattoos On The Heart,” which I’m actually re-reading because it’s phenomenal. That book is about Fr. Greg Boyle who works with gang members in LA. One chapter mentions that Fr. Greg and his team help these young people remove the gang tattoos that they’ve often put on their faces, necks, arms, and hands. Tattoos used to be permanent. Laser treatments have changed that… The other book I’m reading is “The Meaning of Marriage” by Timothy Keller. In it, Mr. Keller asserts that marriage is a covenant — a forever covenant, by design. So he laments today’s high rates of divorce. These two books got me wondering: What IS actually permanent in people’s lives? The decisions to get married or get a tattoo aren’t as permanent as they once were. What decisions have proven to be permanent for you? (For me, I can say that the decision to go to Haiti and live there as a volunteer in ’07 and ’08 has had an irreversible impact on my life. I can’t un-see the things I saw there. I can’t un-know the things I know now because of those experiences. I’ve not been able to un-commit my life to justice work ever since getting back from Haiti…)

Source: WBQ Original inspired by this book and this one.

Have you asked this question? How did it go? Do you have advice for how best to ask it? PLEASE RATE! AND WRITE A REVIEW (in the comment box below)!