Choosing

Choice. What a loaded term in our day. I wonder what it first conjures for you?

Our readings yesterday, August 23rd, framed the notion of choice in the most fundamental way: whether we choose God, or another way. In my homily, I tried to illustrate how our alternative choices sometimes (frequently??) tend to go: for self will; for selfish intentions; for indulgence of anger, or greed, or vengeance; for self-flattery; for casting fate to the winds. Some of our human illusions make it easy to confuse the real choices we are making every day with a "sort of, kind of, faithful way of living." We rationalize that a loving God would never judge us for enjoying a moment of (fill in the blank). We justify ourselves in all sorts of contorted ways, rather than squarely reckon with the fact that we have actually, pretty neatly, chosen a way that goes against our God. We've made new, little gods, which make us feel - what? Better?

Oh, for sure, we often choose the Way, the Gospel path that Christ walked and invited us to walk with him. We choose honesty. We choose reconciliation rather than continued strife; we choose compassion; we are moved to acts of kindness. We listen to one another, and try for patience and understanding. These are choices for God, clear and powerful and full of grace.

The meditation I hope we'll all gravitate to is about the simple realization that in the ways we live out our ordinary lives on every average day, we are really making very powerful choices. And these have lasting effects on our outlook, our dispositions, and our readiness to choose for - or against - God, the next time.

Food for thought.