Choices. We are faced daily with a plethora of choices. Unlike any other culture in history we Americans are inundated with options out of which we must choose.

In recent weeks I have become acutely aware of how difficult our lives can be when we are faced with the necessity of making a choice between one thing and another, or perhaps one thing out of 20 others. From toilet paper to politicians (snide pun intended) we have to choose and everyone from best friends to Madison Avenue ad agencies are more than happy to tell us what choice we must make to be a happy, healthy, and fulfilled person, with the implication being that if we make the wrong choice the world is going to collapse around us.

Even in the Bible, especially in the Gospel according to John, we are told that there are critical choices to be made in life and, in a gross oversimplification of the texts, we are told that the choice for light is a choice for good and a choice for darkness is a choice for evil (John 3:19-20).  Happily, our choice of toilet tissue has little chance of undoing the world, but our choices in many other things may have dire consequences for ourselves and those around us.

In trying to determine the right choices to make (to separate the light from the dark, so to speak) I have created for myself a sort of checklist of values against which I measure the choices I make.

I first employ a saying that has been around a long time which is often known by the anagram THINK – “Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?” – which gives me a bit of a place to stand as I ask myself the more difficult question, “What would Jesus do?”  Though there are many opinions out there about what Jesus might do in any given situation I have come up with my own short list which helps me decide in difficult situations.

 

1) What is the most compassionate response?

2) How can I most effectively have a positive influence? 

3) What sacrifice will I need to make?

4) Will my choice be morally upright?

5) Will my choice be ethically strong?

6) Will my choice build up or tear down?

 

Now that is a lot to process in a single moment, and not being Jesus, my initial responses tend to be self-serving, so I try to weigh my decisions and choices carefully, realizing that sometimes I wind up having to choose the best out of a bad situation, while on the other hand recognizing that sometimes it is necessary to take a strong stand for compassion, morality, ethical integrity, and justice whatever the consequences.

So, in this sense, making right choices – choices for the light rather than the dark– becomes as much, or more, a spiritual matter than a pragmatic decision.

Over the next several months Americans are going to have to make some critical choices as this election year rolls along. The temptation is always going to be to fall in behind the crowd, follow the party, and choose for self-interest first and the well-being of the whole second. But those are choices that come out of our egos and our need to be right and accepted.

However, political elections are not just about our personal needs and wants, they are exercises in spirituality and in making prayerful, THINKing choices that also reflect the values that Jesus taught us.

So, as we move through the next few months I encourage you to do your own research from a broad range of sources rather than accept hearsay propaganda, THINK carefully about what you learn, and pray for holy wisdom and courage to make right choices (even if they are self-sacrificial), and then be sure to vote your conscience with open confidence.

In the end, if we all do these things together, the final result will be the right one.