I Choose Life

There's a perfect symmetry in life that seems to grow the longer you live. Or maybe its always there and never changing and you just become more aware of its size as you get older. Either way, I had a symmetrical trip to Central Idaho that was, as usual, brought home by a passage from the Bible.

I spent the entire week in God's country fishing, hiking, freezing, picturing, eating, communing, and four wheeling. There was an ebb and flow to the pattern of life that was very rhythmic - like the casting of a line into a gentle stream (I cast a lot of line, watched it flow down river, then reeled it in. I did this about 500 times with the same results each time.) Through it all, I was able to get reacquainted with my good friend and brother from another mother, Russ, as we got caught up on each other's lives, loves, and fortunes - mis or otherwise.

In my final week before the trip, I was out filming with some friends for a class and someone asked me about my schedule, "Why do you do so much?" I thought about it then and I told him that I did so much because I didn't want to waste my life sitting on the couch watching TV. I thought a lot about that exchange this weekend as the topic of conversation between Russ and I invariably moved into this same exact area.

I tried to explain to Russ that I was happy and content because I had plenty of things to do. But I think I was failing to make the point that it wasn't the things that made me happy and content, but the context of the things and the fact that I was doing the things in communion with others - that it was the sharing of the task that was the most pleasing thing.

As I struggled to find the right words to tell my friend exactly what I thought about all the things that I do, I came across a passage at the end of the Deuteronomy where God is communicating through Moses to the people of Israel and urging them to choose life. Now, when I read the passage, my initial thought was that God was reminding the Israeli's of the consequences of breaking the covenant with Him. But, at almost the same moment, I was reminded of a line from The Shawshank Redemption where Tim Robbins turns to Morgan Freeman and says, "Well, I guess its time to get busy living, or get busy dying." I've always liked that line and I've always remembered it. I think it breaks down our choices into two camps more accurately than anything else I've ever heard. Live or Die. It's our choice - every single time we make a choice. A few minutes later, as I was going through the NIV notes about the text, I came across the "writers" interpretation of the text and I noted what the "writer" said about the same passage - that God was reminding the people of Israel to choose life and all the things that are associated with it - community, family, etc... I realized that this was exactly what I'd been trying to say all week.

You can have a million bucks and a fancy house and a plethora of servants and accolades and adoring fans, but none of that is more important than spending a week with your friend fishing up in God's country - or helping build a playground - or enjoying a barbeque with your church family - or taking the kids to the park to play. Choosing Life means choosing the things that make life wonderful - not the complex pleasures that leave unsatisfying holes in our lives, but the things that make us whole, happy, and that keep us connected to each other.

I may not be prosperous in the conventional ways, but God gives me more gifts than I could possibly use on a daily basis, and those are treasures that most people not only can't obtain, but don't even understand.

Its good to be back home... I can't wait to go fishing again.