Pivotal moments in our lives affect everything else that follows: educational and career choices, deciding whether to marry and who, or contemplating a move to another city or country.
Some people run head-long into a decision with little thought or consideration. Others take a more thought-out and measured approach.
Whatever the approach, we cannot avoid the consequences of such decisions because even if we do not choose, that is a choice. That too will affect us.
Perhaps the most important decision each of us faces is how we respond to our God’s call. We are all challenged to decide how important God will be in our lives. How we respond affects everything else that we think and do.
God entered directly into the world through Jesus, and Jesus in turn enters directly into our lives.
Also, if we choose to allow Jesus into our lives, that will influence those we live with and minister with and to.
There is a prayer ascribed to St Teresa of Avila, the 16th Century Carmelite. The prayer reads:
“Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Today, Jesus presents us with the same challenge: “Come, follow me.”
The disciples’ response changed them and the world around them.
That will happen to us too if we respond as they did, without hesitation or reservation. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” Our time of decision is at hand.
In my own life, I found something quite intriguing and reassuring, namely, the path I walk down as been walked before me!