Wall transformation chapel guest house St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, MN PHOTO: Mary van Balen “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the landthat the Lord swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Dt 30, 19-20
In today’s first reading, Moses gives God’s people what seems at first glance to be a simple choice:Choose life or death; choose blessing or curse. Who knowingly would choose death or curse? I don’t remember where I heard or read this nugget of wisdom, but I have always remembered this thought: People choose good, or what appears to them at the moment to be the good for them. For example, sometimes when I am distraught, I choose to eat comfort food. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich, or cookies and tea. I don’t need it. It might not be good for my body, but at that moment it seems to be what I need to feel better. Concerns about weight and cholesterol don’t enter my mind.
Did I choose wisely? Not really. After the sandwich is gone or the cookies have been savored with hot steamy tea, I am just as miserable as I was before. Maybe more so because that is when I remember weight and cholesterol.
Choices between blessing and curse are not as easy as Moses makes them sound.Discerning what IS good or bad for us is the trick. The devil is in the details. Our personal details. The choices often more significant that whether or not to eat comfort food: To stay in or return to an abusive relationship, to accept a job offer, to hang out with a particular group, to take prescribed medications, to order another drink…the list is endless.
Life’s choices do not come labeled “blessing” or “curse.” How do we choose wisely? In the verses preceding today’s reading, Moses tells the people that what they need to make the choice is not far from them. They needn’t go to heaven or across the seas to find it. What they need resides in their hearts and on their lips: heart. It is the Word.
The same is true for us. The Word, the very presence of God, is available to us. Not only in Scripture, sacrament, and prayer. The Spirit dwells in our hearts. Pours out grace through those we encounter, through the world we inhabit. Lent reminds us to look, to listen, to be still with this Presence. When we open ourselves to receive God’s Grace, we can be assured not that we always will choose most wisely or will recognize the good, but that God remains with us no matter the paths we take. Grace will help us become better at discerning.
We can live with hope because we live with Love.
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