What’s Your Choice?

Today, the Lord sets before us a choice. And yea, now, it’s personal. Yesterday, we joined with others to publicly state our intention to enter this season and to be a witness that would invite others to come along side us.

But, now, it’s life as usual. There are no ashes to remind us, no church service saying time to pray, and no hungry belly prodding us to offer up our suffering.

There is only our daily routine. It is at this point that what we promised and committed to yesterday meets up with temptation and free will. Our prayer, fasting, and alms giving is to be private, secretly in our own room, just as Matthew’s gospel reminded us. (Matthew 6)

Oh, but when it’s just me and my thoughts, all the voices start. “Who will know if I have some peach tea, even though I said I’d give it up? It’s just one small piece of chocolate. One YouTube video won’t hurt anything. If I scroll for a few more minutes through Facebook, no one will know… just don’t like or comment on anything.”

Or maybe it is not what I was giving up, but making the time to do the things I’d promised myself would become a priority.  If I do those, I could grow in my relationship with the Lord. But, the creative (and not so creative) excuses begin. “It’s too late to do a whole rosary right now. I am so tired, I can’t even begin to read scripture. I’ll just fall asleep and then I’ll get nothing out of it. If I’m going to pray, I should be able to give it my all or it’s not even worth it.”

In my recent reading on Ignatius Spirituality, this phrase from Fr. Timothy Gallagher, continues to bounce in my mind.

What does this mean? When you have consolation, everything feels do-able. You start something new and there is excitement. Like your thoughts about how great this Lent could be, yesterday.

But, we all know the reality. Something will come to steal the joy. It may a big event or something small and seemingly insignificant, but it will come and tempt you away from what you committed to do. So, be aware that it’s coming. Understand that it isn’t from the Lord. And take action to change direction before you spiral out of control. Tell me that doesn’t make sense.

We can go from feeling great to despair and giving up way too quickly. But, being aware that it will happen and understanding what is really going on gives us strength. And action, that doing something right away, like prayer or scripture reading, maybe serving someone else, these things will alter the landscape and create a momentum that will keep you focused.

So, as Jesus reminds us, “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” Don’t let anything come between you and your commitment. Deuteronomy 30 gives us clear instructions. Love him, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, statutes, and decrees. And if we do this, we will live a long and blessed life. And Jesus tells in Luke, that our picking up our cross will be a daily choice. And in doing so, we will gain our life.

Knowing our God, that life will be abundant and eternal. Sounds like a good pay off.
Today, I will choose LIFE. How about you?

Talk with me. What can you do to make it easier to choose Him each day? What types of crosses do you find yourself carrying? What can you do to make that a little bit easier?

XOXO,

Barb

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 1, Luke 9:22-25) Thursday’s Readings