THEREFORE
CHOOSE LIFE

INTRODUCTION

Today, the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, has two good readings for our reflection.

Today's first reading, Deuteronomy 30: 15-20, has one of the great texts and the great scenes of the Bible. Moses has the whole crowd before him and says, “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.”

He then goes on to spell out what will bring life and what will bring death. Then he says, “Therefore, choose life!”

So I would like to reflect on that theme: “Choose life!”
It's the basic theme of Psalm 1 as well as Robert Frost's famous poem, "The Road Not Taken."

GEORGE WALD

Many years ago I was driving somewhere and listening to the car radio. The late Dr. George Wald (1906-1997), a famous Harvard biologist, was giving a lecture on those words from Moses, “Choose life!” He said that is the goal of religion, yet there have been religions that have chosen death - killing people!

He said the choice is biophilia or necrophilia. We know the meaning of the Greek in these words: "bios" being the word for "life" and "nekros" being the word for "dead body" - and "philos" being the word for "love".

I remember Dr. George Wald spoke about the traditional scenario or question, “If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island for a year or for years and you could have only one book, what book would you choose?” I recently heard someone answer: “Boatbuilding for Dummies.” George Wald answered the question immediately and with surety. He said he would choose the Bible. And he loved this text from Deuteronomy: “Choose life!”

The Bible gives life!

THE BIBLE AS A WEAPON

Yet I would add that some people take texts from the Bible and slam others with them. Or they put people in hell. Or they use Sacred Texts to go around killing people in the name of religion.

QUESTIONAIRE

If you were stuck on a deserted island for a year and could only have one book, what book would you choose?

Or before answering that answer these questions:

Looking at your life, what gives you life? What gives you death aches?

Looking at your vacations, what vacations give you life, what vacations give you death? I did an evaluation on my vacations once and changed my vacation plans.

Looking at your Sundays, your Sabbaths, what ones give life? What ones kill you?

Looking at your evenings, what gives life? What brings on death?

QUESTION MARK???
The question mark is shaped the way it is for a reason. The purpose of a question is to hook us?

Some people avoid questions and they are all answers.

It’s good to start Lent with questions. Where am I? What’s going on? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Ooops – before that question: What am I doing?

Am I happy with my use of time? Do I have enough time? Who, where, what, is getting my time and my life?

This Lent do I need to go for more or less – emptying or filling?

Once, while wondering about all this I asked myself, “What am I going to do for vacation this year?” Then I asked myself, “What does a good vacation look like for me? What were my best vacations?”

I ended up deciding on vacations that included lots of walking and time with friends – hiking – camping – away from gadgets – were the best vacations in my life. I have fond memories of vacations in the Rockies in Colorado, the White Mountains in New Hampshire and part of The Long Trail in Vermont.

I also reflected on what kills me: too much sugar, that is before I found out I have Type 2 diabetes, getting to bed too late, not saying “no” enough, working too much, not taking my day off, not exercising, poor planning, putting off mail, etc.

It then hit me to ask the opposite question: What gives me life?

I jotted down answers: when working, work, when playing, play, when praying, pray, when eating, taste what you’re eating, when with friends, be with friends.

These simple questions got me – not all the time – but sometimes to be a better listener, not to look at my watch, to take more walks, to enjoy more sleep, to read smarter, and to laugh more.

These simple questions got me – not every time – to bring Jesus in the playground of my life – and I could hear him saying, “Study people: Notice old people don’t get as upset as younger people. Notice children – they know the importance of older people and relationships.

This is the stuff of wisdom. This is the stuff of prayer. Prayer often starts with good questions.

ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA
St. Ignatius of Loyola [1491-1556], the founder of the Jesuits, was off on the paradox of life and death - pain and gain. At times what seems to give life sometimes kills us; at times what seems to kill us, can bring life.”

This paradox – became his principle of discernment. This paradox gets us to ask the simple question: In the long run, is this going to kill me or give me life?

It’s a cliché to say all this. Yet this message of death & resurrection seems to be lost in the shuffle at times because it’s so simple and so basic.

Jesus says in today’s gospel [Luke 9:22-25] that if we want to be his follower we must let go, deny our very self, take up his cross each day and follow in his steps.

That does not sound like choosing life.

Yet we know it’s true. We know that to master a sport, we have to do a lot of sweating and practice. To learn to master the piano, we must do a lot of practice.

Those who look at the pain and not the gain or the end result often avoid the pain and get nowhere.

CONCLUSION

So the message is obvious: “Therefore choose life!”

Choose Jesus, who said of himself, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

We who have chosen Christ, have chosen life.

Too often we haven’t. As the old saying goes, “If you are happy, let your face know it.” If you are alive, let us see Christ in you and your behaviors.

Teach remedial reading skills. Feed the hungry. Listen to the lonely. Work hard. Surprise! You’ll find yourself more alive almost immediately!

Die to self so others can rise.




This is a sermon I gave for some Thursday after Ash Wednesday