To live is to Decide

To live is to make decisions. Decision after decision builds the fabric of our lives. Just as brick upon brick builds a house, so do our decisions build our lives. And just as we wouldn't ignore the type of bricks we would use to build a house, so we must not ignore the kinds of decisions we make in building our lives.

How many times is life not clear-the future uncertain and yet we find ourselves faced with a decision that we must make. Many times we play it safe and, rather than choosing God's way, we choose the safe and secure way to go.

Joseph Trusted

On this last Sunday before Christmas, the Church gives us Joseph as a model for how we are to welcome Christ. Joseph trusted in God. This gave him the power to accept and live through a very confusing and distressing time in his life. His decisions, and the actions that followed from it, were out of keeping with a legalistic and narrow perspective. His trust in God greatly broadened how he looked at life. Despite the problems involved, Joseph accepted his responsibility because he saw it as the will of God. He welcomed Jesus. Imagine what might have happened if Joseph had decided not to trust God. What he would have missed. How his life would have been so very different.

Because of Joseph's faith he was able to trust that God was with him even in a situation that seemed to have no explanation, and no easy way out. How many times do we simply despair and throw in the towel when we find ourselves in a place in our life where we don't want to be. Our first reaction is to look for the human solution to a difficulty. We try to figure things out, looking at this possible solution and then at that one. That's what Joseph did. He came to the conclusion that the best thing for Mary and him would be to quietly divorce her.

But then he received a message from God asking him to reconsider and to do something out of trust. An angel, a messenger, brought this word to him. Joseph had enough faith in the God who was present in his life to follow the advice of the angel. See what Joseph did? He found himself in trouble, thought about it, came to a conclusion, but then left that conclusion open. He was willing to change his mind based on God's wish for him. This is not a bad model for us to follow.

Don't Leave God Out

Acting out in commitment to love is a fearful thing, and it demands of us the greatest trust in God. We sometimes leave God out of our important decisions. We're usually concerned about how a certain decision will affect us. Will it make me happier, give me more pleasure, more money? Or we may be thinking about how it will affect others. Will a certain decision bring some happiness or satisfaction to another person, or will it cause them pain or disturb them? Most of us don't want our decisions to hurt others. But sometimes what we decide can cause harm to other people. At times it can become very difficult to know what is the right thing to do. And yet, in all of our decisions we have to make room for God and for God's will.

The Hired Man

A farmer hired a man to work for him. He told him his first task would be to paint the barn and said it should take him about three days to complete. But the hired man was finished in one day. The farmer set him to cutting wood, telling him it would require about four days. The hired man finished in a day and a half, to the farmer's amazement. The next task was to sort out a large pile of potatoes. He was to arrange them into three piles: seed potatoes, food for the hogs, and potatoes that were good enough to sell. The farmer said it was a small job and shouldn't take long at all. At the end of the day the farmer came back and found the hired man had barely started. "What's the matter here?" the farmer asked. The hired man replied, "I can work hard, but I can't make decisions!" At times, making a decision can be one of the hardest things we ever have to do. No serious decision should be made without taking our faith in God into consideration. Whether it's buying a house, ending or starting a relationship, deciding how many children to have-our faith in God should be incorporated into all of our decisions.

God Takes Us Seriously

The feast of Christmas is the strongest reminder that God takes us seriously. God sent his Son. Now we must take God seriously-not only alluding to God when it seems appropriate but at all times and in all circumstances-especially in our decisions. Joseph was at a crossroads in his life. He was staring down two different paths. One included Mary and her unborn child. The other was leading perhaps to some other woman as his future wife. Because he left his decision open to the influence of God, he was able to make a life-giving decision.

In fact, that is one of the principles on which we should base our decisions. When faced with a choice, we can ask: Which choice will be life giving? If parents are considering an important choice that will affect the life of their children, they must ask: Will this decision bring life to my children? Or is it just something that I want to do? Our relationships and our state in life will greatly affect our decisions. What is a good choice for a single person may not be a good choice for a married person. We can't make decisions that are good ones without looking at all of the different aspects of our lives.

In a couple of days we will be asked to once again open our hearts in welcome to Jesus and to all of his children. May we be open to accepting him with joy and welcome him just as our brother Joseph once did.