FREEDOM SEEKERS The Gift of Matthew

The Risk Taker

I was born with a distinct advantage, whatever caught my attention I would pursue.

When my uncle killed my father and then cheated his widow and children out of their inheritance, I learned to look below surfaces. Thus, I met Lady Opportunity. She came to me in sack cloth and ashes with hideous death for a face. But I recognized her beneath her disguise and embraced her gladly. No matter I would have to pay for Roman gold with the scorn and estrangement from my people, Roman gold would keep my mother and little sisters safe in far off Cyprus and that was my goal.

In my next life as Marco Polo, I clung to Lady Opportunity’s skirts across the known world into the court of tyrannical Kublai Khan. Without using her influence, I would have been dead a dozen times over

In my very different life as Teddy Roosevelt, I did not wait for the masked lady to come knocking, I created an invitation for her to join me. This worked so well, I rose from the bottom rung of the political ladder to the top where as President of the United States, we were able to establish enduring changes.

My adventurous Ram nature helped me accept Lady Opportunity even when she came clothed in risk.