Spiritual Library

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Up? Or Down? (It's not really an elevator!)

Every evening during our family prayer time, one or more of my younger siblings prays, "Dear Jesus, please help us make good choices." This is an echo of what my parents say to them before a potential brawl- "Remember- make good choices!" At first, it seemed to me to be a simple, cute discipline reserved for young children. But recently I've been thinking more about it.

No choice remains in isolation. Everything we do will either actively lead us to God or away from Him. And every choice ultimately turns into a decision.

For example: if Clement has a choice between eating salad or ice cream for Monday's supper and he chooses ice cream, fine. On Tuesday he makes the same choice. He does so again on Wednesday. Then on and on over the next weeks and months he eats a steady diet of ice cream. On that first day, he did not make a decision to eat ice cream for the rest of his life, but choices ultimately turn into decisions. Clement made a decision to neglect his health, pamper his passion, and eat ice cream.

Take the case of St. Maria Goretti. She chose not to yield to man's impurity and indecent proposals, but rather to imitate Christ. Her decision was to love God and obtain sanctity.

Maybe this is obvious to all of my readers. But I am sitting here contemplating something I've never really thought about before. Our every thought, word, and deed is an active choice (and ultimate decision) between God and Death. When it comes to our salvation, there really isn't any neutrality. If you aren't for God, you're against Him. And our actions will give truth to our words.




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