Choosing Life

I laughed out loud at St. John's yesterday when our priest-in-charge, Fr. Dave, read the gospel, ascended into the pulpit, prayed, looked out at the congregation and said:
"Bet you're wondering what I'm gonna do with this one!"
Yeah, I was!!
The Matthew gospel is the one that makes people squirm. If you are angry with your neighbor, you are committing murder in your heart. If you lust after a woman in your heart, you are committing adultery. If you marry a divorced woman, you are committing adultery. Smack, slap, gut-punch, take that!! Welcome to what it means to follow God.
I liked what Fr. Dave had to say in regards to addressing the small fires (petty fights, words spoken in anger, etc.) before they gather steam toward the murderous, adulterous acts that break us apart from each other and from God. Really, if you think about it, if you want to walk humbly with God, consider how you are walking with your friends, family, strangers that you meet during the day. Treat people right.

Which brings me to the title of this post, "Choosing Life" which, I believe, was the underlying message of all the readings yesterday. We got it fully in the Deuteronomy passage, where Moses challenges Israel by laying before them God's message of choosing life over death. For me, this is the bass drum beat of all of the messages that are in Scripture. Each choice we make will lead us to a new set of choices which move us further along the path of eternal life or eternal death. Choose life! It's more liberating than death! And even when we stumble (because we will) there is always the choice to pick ourselves up, shake the dust off and keep walking the path toward life. Forgiveness is available for the asking. Grace is given for free.

As one who aspires to stay on a path of eternal life, I listened to the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians, talking about being a planter, and another being the waterer... but God providing the growth. And here, too, I feel this is about choosing life. Planting and watering are the works of a gardener encouraging a seed to grow. But ultimately, that growth happens because there was a seed planted at the start... and God provides the light to foster its growth. There have been people in my life who have influenced my growth in understanding of God's love... which translates into a love of all that is around me, people and animals and nature. In turn, this is the love I offer back as best as I can. It's not proselytizing; it's just being.

And that's my Happy Valentine's Birthday message to all of you.