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TUESDAY 8/26/08

August 26, 2008 on 11:49 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments

Tough Choices

I missed, by a hair, experiencing one of the great defining moments of the Baby Boomer culture:  Woodstock.  Living on Long Island, a friend and I actually had tickets for this mega-concert a few hours away up the Hudson.  But as we drove north, the reports on the radio were of chaos and traffic jams backing up for miles.  We sold our tickets (in the end, the outdoor concert became a freebie for the tens of thousands who showed up) and headed off to Boston for the weekend.
 
What if I had had a chance to see Jesus back when?  Would I have done the same thing — turned away at the troubling news reports — if I had been present and heard the tough-love Jesus lectures (drink my blood, eat my flesh) or would I have stood face to face with the Son of Man  (now there’s a bit of history) and said, “Yes, Lord, I’m with you”?  Beatific glow of the Holy Spirit … or head shake, spit in the sand and mumble, “Da guy’s a nut”?
 
My point:  It seems to me that faith is both a gift and a choice, a matter of opening our hearts and going along for the ride.  We can follow Jesus because of the good-time miracles and the free meals.  But sometimes we have to make a choice — as in, when the times get tough — as to whether we’re going to stand strong or cash in our ticket and look elsewhere for the answers we seek.  It is our choice.  — jri
 
“From this time many of the disciples
turned back and no longer followed him.”
        –    John 6:66