THE WAY, NOT THE PEOPLE
September 23, 2018
Psalms 1
How many of you know the name Alex Honnold? I first learned about him in a 60 Minutes piece years ago. Today, some say he is the world’s most famous climber, meaning he is the most famous climber of mountains the world knows. The thing that makes Honnold different than the rest is that he climbs without ropes. No ropes anywhere, which in that world is known as climbing Free Solo. So, when Honnold climbs the face of whatever mountain he has chosen all you see is him, a little bag of powder to keep his hands dry and the rock or rocks he is climbing. It truly is something to behold. Both scary and breathtaking all at the same time.
Now, next month a new documentary movie is being released about Honnold’s most death-defying spectacular climb to date. So spectacular, that until he did it, no one had ever tried to Free Solo climb El Capitan, which is the name of the vertical rock formation located in Yosemite National Park. Let’s take a look at a clip of this upcoming movie release:
[Video Clip]
***********************************
As I watch that movie trailer I start to wonder what it must be like knowing that your decision about which way to go is really a decision about life or death. Could you imagine the impact something like that would have on your own life? The impact of knowing the choice you make about which way your own life will go… the choice you make about which path you will take at this particular time in your life, is really a choice between life or death?
Now, the choices Alex Honnold has to make about which path he will take appear to literally be about life or death, but I believe life presents us with choices all the time about which way we should go in our own lives, and even though the options may not lead to a literal death, they can lead to a figurative type death. The decisions we make have the power to energize our lives or deaden them. The choices we make about which path we will take at this particular moment of our lives can either invigorate or leaves us weary. Throughout all of life, it seems, there are paths that bear fruit, and paths that don’t. This can be both scary and exciting I believe. Scary, because for most of us we want to know before we ever actually make a choice, if the choice we intend to make is the “right” choice or not… And exciting, because having the freedom, and being entrusted to make a choice in the first place is an exciting opportunity for anyone.
***********************************
Luckily, for most of us, we are not asked to make such choices without first being taught or first being equipped to do so and the Psalmist in Psalm 1 appears to know this. Happy are those who delight in the teaching of God. Happy are those who take what they learned from God’s teaching and think about it, ponder it, and let it direct the choices they make about the paths they will take. Happy are those who let the torah guide them in their lives and guide them in the choices they make. And what exactly does that mean to let the torah guide you, well I believe Jesus may have summed it up best when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…And ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1]
You see, God’s teaching is always about relationship building, both with God and with others. Building relationships… Recognizing that achievement and success come from working together… Being self-less instead of selfish… Loving all. Choose the paths that lead to those things. Those are the ways to travel to prosper. Those ways are life-giving because those are the ways of the giver of life.
On the other hand, you can always choose a different path… a different way of living, and in the Psalmist’s eyes that way only separates you from God and from others. The Psalmist here calls those who choose a path of separation Wicked, and while that term sounds harsh, I want us to recognize what the Psalmist does not say about them. He does not say God excludes the Wicked. He does not say the Wicked will perish. Now I don’t know about you, but this is significant for me. Knowing that God never cuts off and never excludes tells me so much about this God I Love and who Loves me.
God teaches about loving self and loving others. God teaches about standing up for justice… God teaches about pursuing righteousness. Those teachings are a gift from God to God’s beloved, and we choose what to do with these gifts. We choose!
When faced with a choice between pursuing justice or preserving status the quo that is unjust… we choose!
When faced with a choice between being ethical and unethical. We choose!
And while choosing the just path or the righteous path should never be confused with the easy path, we have been taught and therefore we continue to be called to choose justice over injustice… righteousness over unrighteousness. Over and over and over again. Each day of our lives.
***********************************
I want to end with this story that I heard for the first time yesterday. It is a portion of an essay written by Will Landrieu on his college application. Will Landrieu is the son of Mitch Landrieu the longtime Mayor of New Orleans who chose a way of acting, chose a path out of love for the least, the last, the lost. A path he believed was right. A path of justice that others had not previously chosen. As Mayor, Mitch made a decision to tear down all of the confederate monuments that stood in the city of New Orleans and by choosing to act in such a way he lost a lot, and without even knowing at the time his family lost a lot too, but they also gained. This essay, from his son’s perspective, speaks to the kind of courage it takes to choose the way of justice and righteousness. Here are Will Landrieu’s words:
“Growing up as the son of the Mayor of New Orleans I’ve seen the struggles of leadership. In response to years of discussion, my father decided to remove the Confederate monuments found across our city. He delivered a speech on the topic that, though nationally was applauded, was locally controversial. There was discord in the city leading to tense protests that bordered on violence. Despite thirty years of earning the public’s approval, the vitriol thrust through my father’s professional life directly to the daily lives of our family. We didn’t feel safe anywhere or with anyone. For the two days after the removal I walked down the school hallway bracing myself as my classmates yelled out ‘n****r lover’ and ‘your dad is ruining the city.’ My closest friends even sent me articles with false rumors about my father. Until now, I have kept these words to myself.
Standing up for others is excruciatingly lonely. I know my dad must be more hurt and lonelier than I am. As my black friends explained, ‘at least my family is lonely by choice’ they were simply born just a little bit darker than I was. Until the monuments were removed, my friends never imagined they would live a day where they wouldn’t walk the hallways or sit in history class in fear of the next hateful comment. I know the decision my dad made was right because my friends would want someone to stand up for them. I have the ability to do that. So, I intend to take full advantage of my privilege. I know that great decisions have great costs. Those costs are a fraction of what the people we are making them for have endured.”[2]
**************************************
So, whether you are choosing to climb the face of a mountain, or address injustices, know the decision is always yours. But more than that, know that one way leads to life and one way leads to death.
Amen!
[1] Matthew 22:37-39 (NRSV)
[2] Landrieu, Mitch, In The Shadow of Statues – A White Southerner Confronts History
Psalms 1
How many of you know the name Alex Honnold? I first learned about him in a 60 Minutes piece years ago. Today, some say he is the world’s most famous climber, meaning he is the most famous climber of mountains the world knows. The thing that makes Honnold different than the rest is that he climbs without ropes. No ropes anywhere, which in that world is known as climbing Free Solo. So, when Honnold climbs the face of whatever mountain he has chosen all you see is him, a little bag of powder to keep his hands dry and the rock or rocks he is climbing. It truly is something to behold. Both scary and breathtaking all at the same time.
Now, next month a new documentary movie is being released about Honnold’s most death-defying spectacular climb to date. So spectacular, that until he did it, no one had ever tried to Free Solo climb El Capitan, which is the name of the vertical rock formation located in Yosemite National Park. Let’s take a look at a clip of this upcoming movie release:
[Video Clip]
***********************************
As I watch that movie trailer I start to wonder what it must be like knowing that your decision about which way to go is really a decision about life or death. Could you imagine the impact something like that would have on your own life? The impact of knowing the choice you make about which way your own life will go… the choice you make about which path you will take at this particular time in your life, is really a choice between life or death?
Now, the choices Alex Honnold has to make about which path he will take appear to literally be about life or death, but I believe life presents us with choices all the time about which way we should go in our own lives, and even though the options may not lead to a literal death, they can lead to a figurative type death. The decisions we make have the power to energize our lives or deaden them. The choices we make about which path we will take at this particular moment of our lives can either invigorate or leaves us weary. Throughout all of life, it seems, there are paths that bear fruit, and paths that don’t. This can be both scary and exciting I believe. Scary, because for most of us we want to know before we ever actually make a choice, if the choice we intend to make is the “right” choice or not… And exciting, because having the freedom, and being entrusted to make a choice in the first place is an exciting opportunity for anyone.
***********************************
Luckily, for most of us, we are not asked to make such choices without first being taught or first being equipped to do so and the Psalmist in Psalm 1 appears to know this. Happy are those who delight in the teaching of God. Happy are those who take what they learned from God’s teaching and think about it, ponder it, and let it direct the choices they make about the paths they will take. Happy are those who let the torah guide them in their lives and guide them in the choices they make. And what exactly does that mean to let the torah guide you, well I believe Jesus may have summed it up best when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…And ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1]
You see, God’s teaching is always about relationship building, both with God and with others. Building relationships… Recognizing that achievement and success come from working together… Being self-less instead of selfish… Loving all. Choose the paths that lead to those things. Those are the ways to travel to prosper. Those ways are life-giving because those are the ways of the giver of life.
On the other hand, you can always choose a different path… a different way of living, and in the Psalmist’s eyes that way only separates you from God and from others. The Psalmist here calls those who choose a path of separation Wicked, and while that term sounds harsh, I want us to recognize what the Psalmist does not say about them. He does not say God excludes the Wicked. He does not say the Wicked will perish. Now I don’t know about you, but this is significant for me. Knowing that God never cuts off and never excludes tells me so much about this God I Love and who Loves me.
God teaches about loving self and loving others. God teaches about standing up for justice… God teaches about pursuing righteousness. Those teachings are a gift from God to God’s beloved, and we choose what to do with these gifts. We choose!
When faced with a choice between pursuing justice or preserving status the quo that is unjust… we choose!
When faced with a choice between being ethical and unethical. We choose!
And while choosing the just path or the righteous path should never be confused with the easy path, we have been taught and therefore we continue to be called to choose justice over injustice… righteousness over unrighteousness. Over and over and over again. Each day of our lives.
***********************************
I want to end with this story that I heard for the first time yesterday. It is a portion of an essay written by Will Landrieu on his college application. Will Landrieu is the son of Mitch Landrieu the longtime Mayor of New Orleans who chose a way of acting, chose a path out of love for the least, the last, the lost. A path he believed was right. A path of justice that others had not previously chosen. As Mayor, Mitch made a decision to tear down all of the confederate monuments that stood in the city of New Orleans and by choosing to act in such a way he lost a lot, and without even knowing at the time his family lost a lot too, but they also gained. This essay, from his son’s perspective, speaks to the kind of courage it takes to choose the way of justice and righteousness. Here are Will Landrieu’s words:
“Growing up as the son of the Mayor of New Orleans I’ve seen the struggles of leadership. In response to years of discussion, my father decided to remove the Confederate monuments found across our city. He delivered a speech on the topic that, though nationally was applauded, was locally controversial. There was discord in the city leading to tense protests that bordered on violence. Despite thirty years of earning the public’s approval, the vitriol thrust through my father’s professional life directly to the daily lives of our family. We didn’t feel safe anywhere or with anyone. For the two days after the removal I walked down the school hallway bracing myself as my classmates yelled out ‘n****r lover’ and ‘your dad is ruining the city.’ My closest friends even sent me articles with false rumors about my father. Until now, I have kept these words to myself.
Standing up for others is excruciatingly lonely. I know my dad must be more hurt and lonelier than I am. As my black friends explained, ‘at least my family is lonely by choice’ they were simply born just a little bit darker than I was. Until the monuments were removed, my friends never imagined they would live a day where they wouldn’t walk the hallways or sit in history class in fear of the next hateful comment. I know the decision my dad made was right because my friends would want someone to stand up for them. I have the ability to do that. So, I intend to take full advantage of my privilege. I know that great decisions have great costs. Those costs are a fraction of what the people we are making them for have endured.”[2]
**************************************
So, whether you are choosing to climb the face of a mountain, or address injustices, know the decision is always yours. But more than that, know that one way leads to life and one way leads to death.
Amen!
[1] Matthew 22:37-39 (NRSV)
[2] Landrieu, Mitch, In The Shadow of Statues – A White Southerner Confronts History
