Monday Meditation – Choices - 3/20/2023

We all have choices to make every day. We choose what to eat, what to wear, where to go and so on. We make thousands of choices every single day. And most of these choices are minor, and don’t impact others. Who else is truly impacted if you wear purple pants, dye your hair green or eat junk food all day?

The choices that are problematic are the ones which endanger others or negatively impact our own spiritual health.

What do I mean by that?

I believe the problem comes when we disobey those in authority and rules. When we choose to disobey laws established by our government, this can impact our finances or even our ability to live freely, and it can affect our family and friends as well. For example, a person may choose to speed down a freeway faster than the posted limit. This choice disobeys the speed laws and can endanger the lives of others who are also driving on that freeway. When caught, the speeding driver will likely need to pay a fine, and if he or she continues to disobey this law, there is a possibility of jail time.

When we disobey the laws established by God, there also is a negative impact. For example, a person may choose to speak disparaging remarks about another person. If these remarks are untrue, the person is lying, and is disobeying God’s command as well as damaging another person’s reputation. But even if the remarks are true, spreading that message around, especially in a malicious manner, can negatively impact the reputation of the other person. And this is likely disobedient to God’s command as well.

If I were to take a candy bar from a store without paying for it, I am disobeying the seventh commandment, Thou Shalt Not Steal. It may seem like a petty theft and not serious, but it is stealing from the store, and therefore a violation of God’s command.

Or If I were to speak about my husband in a demeaning or negative way when talking to others, that would be a lie (because he is truly a nice guy!) and I would be disobeying the eighth commandment, Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness. It’s also possible that I was disobeying the fifth commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill. That may not seem immediately apparent – but think about this: damaging my husband’s reputation is killing his reputation, which in a sense is killing him. I had never even thought about that before until I learned this when studying the Ten Commandments in detail a few years ago.

It can be easy for us to ignore God’s Laws. Perhaps we don’t think that they really apply to us, especially if something seems so minor as stealing a candy bar or calling someone a bad name. But if we don’t understand all the nuances in each of the Commandments, we may not realize that the things we are doing are actually disobeying a part of one of them. Now that I understand the commandments better, it seems foolish to ignore them just because we do not really understand them. The Ten Commandments were given to us for a reason, to help us live loving and caring lives in the way Jesus taught us.

When I am faced with a choice to do A or B, I find it helpful to first consider if doing either A or B would break a law or commandment. If so, I should either do nothing or opt for a choice which does not break the commandments. When I am not sure, I find it helpful to return to the Catechism and read up on the nuances of the commandments.

In addition, there are also some very thorough Confession pamphlets and apps out there (I like the one in the Laudate App) which ask some very probing questions to help me identify where I could break or have broken the commandments.

As we continue our Lenten journey, I pray that you will carefully consider the choices you will be making this week, and choose only those which are loving and good. Choose things that will bless others, not hurt them. In addition, if you have some time, I suggest you read the Catechism, Part 3 Life in Christ, Section 2, The Ten Commandments. You may learn a few things!

Have a blessed Monday!

Faye

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