Make Good Choices!

June 16, 2024 Frank Clarkson

Homily given by Rev. Frank Clarkson on Flower Communion Sunday, June 16, 2024.

I was hustling around yesterday, having fun doing some chores, getting things done, and I thought of this hour, in this place, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s words that are at the top of the order of service came to mind:

“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”

I love that when we gather here, we take the time to be here, to see one another, to look inside. We enter sabbath time, a time to just be. And it’s good for us. It’s necessary, I believe, for a good and grounded life.

You may know these lines from Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day”:

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Today I’m thinking about the choices that we make. And I have a question for you, especially you young people: has anyone ever said to you, as you headed off to school, or as you went out to play with a friend or a sibling, or you older youth, as you took the car keys, has anyone said to you as you hurried out, “Make good choices!”?

I’m thinking pretty much all of us must have heard that admonition, at one time or another, right? My wife still says it to me sometimes, as I head off fishing, or some other kind of adventure, “Make good choices!” Yes, dear.

It’s a way of saying, “I love you,” isn’t it? Even though it can sometimes sound annoying or controlling. “Don’t you trust me to make good choices?”

But the truth is, we humans are prone to making some poor choices, at least some of the time. I heard a story on the radio that said most of the time people end up in the emergency room is because of a choice that they made.

And we live in a time when there are so many choices! Just look at the cereal aisle, or the toothpaste section, in your local supermarket! And there are more important choices too—will I do what’s right, even when no one is looking? Will I make choices that I can live with, and am proud of? Choices that help others?

In the book of Deuteronomy God says to the people, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deut 30:19).

To state the obvious, our choices lead to our actions, and our actions have consequences. Are you making choices that are life-affirming?

Do you ever step back from the present moment, from the concerns of the day, and consider the arc of your life? Have you ever tried to illustrate your life’s journey, or written about it? We’ve had gatherings here from time time to time where the homework was to create a spiritual autobiography timeline, in which you sketch out the key moments, turning points, times that had an impact on the direction of your life, and then come talk about it. This can be an illuminating exercise, because it invites you to step back and take a longer view, and ponder the choices you’re made, the people and places you’ve chosen. And that have chosen you.

This stepping back helps you to have some perspective on your life, and getting some perspective can help you to make better choices. To learn and grow, to be grateful and glad, as you make your way through life.

Dear spiritual companions, let us be people who make good choices, that honor our paths through this life, and bless our companions on the way.

Amen.