Reflections on Choice, In Three Parts

Part I

Opening Syllogism:

Relationships can only exist between individual entities.

Individuals are reified in and only in the act of choosing.

Every relationship exists only through Choice.  

Each of us relates to God individually.  If we are united in relationship to others, united in community, it is only through our connection to God.  

My assumption here is that the individual is the atom of relationship.  Some would argue that this assumption is determined socio-culturally.  In other words, I believe this because my culture has a bias toward the individual...is individualistic.  For others, the smallest relational unit is the family or tribe or group or community.  For these others, autonomy only exists at the level of these groups.  In my opinion, it is clear that individuals can assert their autonomy over against these groups of individuals.  In fact they assert their autonomy not only when they disagree, but when they agree.  In my estimation, each individual must subscribe to the group, that is must give over their individual autonomy to the autonomy of the community in every case.  Sometimes this giving up is done consciously, but most often it is (unfortunately) done without thought or consideration.  The phenomenon of conflict which exists in every group of people or organization is proof (to me) that individuals are the smallest autonomic unit.  Conflict occurs when individuals negotiate between their individual autonomy and the autonomy of the coterie.

Even if you don’t follow me in my individualistic tendencies (which I blame almost entirely on my love for Kierkegaard), the syllogism above may still stand.  Consider the relationship between an individual and the state (that is, the nation).  I choose either patriotism or dissent.  This choice is based on my beliefs and values as an individual--other choices I have made that have led to the development of a person with integrity.  Meanwhile, the nation also makes choices that determine what kind of nation it is or will be.  The choices of our leaders determines the “personality” of our country.  The state also makes choices about who it will relate to and how--i.e. international relations, federal state relations, identifying those outside of the state (prisoners, etc.). 

Relationship, therefore, depends on choice.  Not only the direct choice to be in relationship, but also (and I think more importantly) indirectly.  Every choice one makes contributes to the type of individual (or entity, or organization) one is.  Once the character of the entity is established in actuality, then the phenomenon of relationship is made possible.  The choice is the moment when the person moves from several or many potential expressions of who they are to one, albeit complex, expression of the same.

I cannot stress enough the purpose and consequence of this individualistic rendering of the faith.  To wit, the faith leads (through the affirming of the individuality) to full and deep relationships between people and creation.  The point is to become a right and perfect community forged in grace and loving-kindness.  If one remains isolated from such a community, then faith is simply not present.

Henceforth, I speak of our relationship to God as typical of all other human relationships.  I believe that these relationships operate in same fundamental manner.  In other words, all that I say about how we relate to God can also be said of how we relate to others, generally speaking.

We relate to God, and God to us, only through our choices.  God cannot come to us otherwise, cannot have a relationship to us outside of our choices.  I am not here limiting God’s ability or power.  It is only in the circumstance of a choice that a person becomes an individual.  In the choice, each of us establishes a personality (establishes individuality) over against the crowd .  By choosing, the individual becomes more like him or herself (or if you prefer: in the choice, each of us lives into who and what God created each of us to be).  And only an individual can participate meaningfully in relationship.

The choice, then, is like a forge in which the personality is heated and pounded--shaped into who it is, who it will be.  Each choice is a trial or test--not in the sense of an interrogation, but rather in the sense of an information, that is, the process of being inwardly formed.  God cannot relate to us externally (for if he could, the incarnation would be accidental, unnecessary--Jesus would be redundant).  

Choosing Bridges all Gaps

Reflections on Choice, Part II

Choice is the Exchange between the Internal and the External, between the Individual and all that is Other.

God wishes to relate to each of us internally.  But in order to do this, God must come to us in the external.  Not for God’s sake, notice, but for ours.  Scripture is clear on this, that God knows our hearts.  However, we cannot come to know God except through the external.  For this reason, God took on the Word.  Indeed, it was the Word which created every external thing in the universe...created everything that was not internal to God.  And so it was first through the Word that God came to us externally.  If this were not so, then God would know us, but we would not know God.  

We should not thereby confuse the means with the end, however.  It is by means of the external that God accomplishes a relationship with that which is internal of every human being.  Even with the incarnation, in which God took on externality to bridge the gap, the purpose and aim was to meet humanity interpersonally, to touch our inward lives by way and by the means of the external body.  For instance, when Jesus met the woman at the well, the purpose of the exchange was clearly so that each would learn something about the inward life of the other.  Jesus learned all the details of the woman’s life, the woman learned that Jesus was the Messiah and the fount of living water.

For another example, let us look at the story of Jacob wrestling God at Penuel.  Jacob was anxious about meeting his brother Esau the next morning.  These brothers had left on bad terms, with Esau seeking to kill him.  Jacob was worried about their first encounter after years of living in separate lands.  God came to Jacob at night in the form of an angel...in an external form.  And they wrestled together all night long.  You will admit, I trust, that wrestling is an external form of conflict.  Now God knew Jacob’s internal struggle.  Why else would God have appeared.  But Jacob did not know God was present even in that struggle.  God came with an external form in order to reveal God’s presence to Jacob.  God thus became both a mirror and a sounding board for Jacob’s anxiety.  It is entirely possible that Jacob would have fled, if God had not held him in place, literally, all night long.  His broken relationship with Esau was clearly a thorn that plagued his psyche.  If Jacob had fled in fear of his brother, then he would have buried the thorn more deeply, he would have ignored the emotional and psychological pain for the rest of his days.  The internal struggle would never have been brought out, and therefore never resolved.

Jacob had a choice: confront his brother and grasp for the possibility of reconciliation, or flee--turn back and avoid his brother.  It is quite possible that Jacob did not see this as a choice, but felt trapped.  He certainly was unable to control Esau’s reaction to him...he did not know how Esau would treat him after all the years of separation.  In fear, the choice must have seemed like no choice at all.  I would imagine that Jacob was beginning to think that the only option was to turn back.  It was either die at Esau’s murderous hand, or stay away.  Survival posits no choice in such a construction.

But God appeared, and revealed that there was, indeed, a choice.  Struggling with the angel excised the power of fear in Jacob.  Death was still a possibility, but the sting of death was diminished...making other possibilities worth pursuing.  At the end of the struggle, the angel blessed Jacob to reaffirm Isaac’s blessing--this bolstered Jacob’s courage.  And in overcoming his fear, Jacob was able to see the choice he had among the possibilities.  Reconciliation became a viable option.  Fleeing remained that other choice.  

Thus, through the external encounter, Jacob was able to sift through his internal struggle, knowing that God was present in that internal struggle.  God’s presence brought with it the power to choose.  The presence of fear destroys the ability to choose.  Jacob’s internal struggle became clearer because of the external encounter with God.  Relating to God externally in this way, allowed Jacob to lay hold of an internal trust--and internal relationship--with God.  I will note here what I consider to be solid truth: every relationship requires some level of trust.  Or rather some amount of trust must necessarily exist in every relationship.  Where there is no trust, a relationship is an absolute impossibility.

We see that in the Old Testament, God is constantly taking on external form in order to relate to individual human beings.  Various forms are used: an angel, a voice (the Word), the burning bush, the whirlwind, the sheer silence (which is unnatural, that is sheer silence does not occur in nature), lightning, thunder, bright light, electricity, dark shadow, the Ark of the Covenant, the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud, the name of God, etc.  God’s appearance in dreams or visions is even an example of God becoming present externally.  Dreams are only a way for the mind to address and process internal things (quasi-) externally.  In the New Testament God’s presence is revealed even more powerfully in the external: most of all through Jesus Christ, but also through the voice from heaven, light, the dove, visions of the resurrected Christ, the Holy Meal, the tongues of fire at Pentecost, etc.  God takes on these limited external forms because the full glory of God is overwhelming and thus potentially destructive...certainly unrecognizable.  

Choosing Sin, Choosing GodReflections on Choice, Part III

God’s Law Gives Birth to Choice

When Jesus comes again, everything external will be gathered up into God.  All the external things (bodies, nations, matter, etc.) will fall under God’s rule and will.  Everything external will be changed to reflect perfectly the inward...that is, God’s inwardness.  Until that time, that which is external in time is changed piecemeal by the inwardness of human individuals.  It is the Holy Spirit in us that changes us and empowers us to change the world to reflect more and more God’s kingdom and reign.  This is done through our choices.  Our choices immediately change that which is ours externally--our bodies (health), our behavior (attitude), and our relationships with others (service to others, participation in politics which changes the course of the nations, etc.).  Thus, we can change who we are by our choices, and who we are then affects everything around us, but only secondarily.  For this reason, large-scale changes are slow and difficult...indeed, they often require whole communities to make choices together in one mind (and here is the breach in which the church finds its purpose and role--creating communities of one mind with Jesus Christ).  The change at Christ’s second coming will not be piecemeal, but wholesale because at that time God’s own personality will affect all things in perfect relationship.  God will assert God’s self incontrovertibly.  

So, in every choice in life, our goal is to choose God (or, if you prefer, choose God’s will--there is no practical difference between the two, and ver little difference theologically).  For Adam and Eve, that meant choosing not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  This highlights how wonderful and blessed a gift is the Law of God.  It is the Law (thou shalt not eat of the tree...) that creates the possibility for relationship with God.  That is, if God had not established the Law, then we would have no vehicle by which to choose God.  And without choosing God, there would be no meaningful relationship, or the relationship would be one-sided (which, perhaps you will agree with me, is not a life-giving relationship).

The Law, then, is good, right and is the source of all joy and life--insofar as we choose God in the choice that the Law provides.  [Here I could speak a great deal on the concept of covenant, but I will leave that to you, my dear and capable reader.  I will say only that every relationship--human or divine--necessarily entails a covenant, whether it is spoken or unspoken.  We relate to others and, indeed, to all of creation through covenants.]

The problem, of course, is that humans do not always choose God when it comes to making a choice.  We continually fail to follow God’s laws...in fact, most of the Law is too stringent for us to follow.  It would take constant vigilance, for which we simply do not have the endurance or patience or knowledge or ability.

When the Law is broken in and through our choices, then our relationship with God is also shattered.  What then?

Here grace becomes active, but not in a simple way...please hold on for the ride as I follow the economy of God’s grace:

Breaking God’s law does not mean that all is lost.  Instead, breaking the law is a “happy fault.”  How wonderful it is that every offense against God’s will only creates an opportunity for relationship with God.  When we choose sin, the possibility for relationship with God expands...it does not contract.  For choosing sin is not a dead-end road, as many think or wish it to be.  Well, it is a dead-end road, for the wages of sin is death.  But dying plays into God’s strength.  God is best precisely at this: changing death into life...therefore sin into righteousness.  Sin is the result of choice, but is the mother of a multitude of choices--all of which can lead to God.  And so, if we can recognize our sin, we can also recognize all of the subsequent choices in which we can meet God once again.  The trick is to avoid the despair over our sinfulness so that we are free to see and to choose God after sin.  Despair makes it impossible to choose grace or forgiveness...impossible to see the possibilities of relationship with God after sin.  Despair, therefore, is sin compounded, since in despair we do not trust in God’s grace.  But if we can trust God through the sting of breaking the Law...if we can stick our head up above the consequences of our choice just long enough to see the dawn of forgiveness, to breathe in the fresh air of grace, then we can see all of the choices still open to us for choosing God.

I think we need some examples.  Adam and Eve were given one rule--one choice.  Do not eat the fruit.  Or eat it and face the consequences.  They chose to eat it.  With that choice, they were cast out of Eden.  Outside of paradise, the life-decisions that Adam and Eve faced grew exponentially in number and complexity.  Instead of having one choice by which to choose God, they were given a plethora of choices...in each of which was the potential to choose relationship with God.  By the time Israel was established as a nation, the Law had grown to include not just ten commandments, but hundreds.  God appeared everywhere to be chosen.

For another, more practical example, I ask you, my dear reader, to think of one of your failings--be it recent or late.  Now as you reflect on this fault or failing, you essentially have two ways of looking at it, and maybe a third.  First, your failing can overcome you.  It can become a symbol of your hopeless nature.  Grief and guilt over the failing can throw you into despair--not being able to do anything right, not being successful in this one thing, being a failure in life more generally.  Second, you could remain ignorant that it is a fault or failing and persist in your behavior never knowing that you have gone astray or that the behavior does not serve you.  Third, you can come to view this failing as an opportunity.  By facing the shame of having failed, by accepting the consequences head-on, one can overcome all of this and use the experience as a learning moment.  Thus, every time one breaks the law, these three choices present themselves.  And this last choice is pregnant with more choices.  The third, using the experience to grow, opens a future full of possibilities.  These possibilities are present in every case, but only in this third response is the individual able to see the possibilities...free to grasp after them.

In confession the ignorance of our sin is dashed by the light of truth.  This requires honesty with one’s self.  In repentance we travel through despair and guilt, turning back to throw ourselves on God’s loving grace.  And finally, in salvation we are freed to choose once again--to choose a better self, to choose a relationship with God.

And it all happens despite of and because of the fact that we have broken the Law.

How blessed and joyful is the one who finds salvation in failure, who finds offense as an opportunity either to be forgiven...or to forgive.

Most often people use offense as an opportunity to exact revenge or to assert power.  But the follower of Jesus uses offense as an opportunity to forgive in love.

Why?  Because every time God is offended, God uses it as an opportunity to share grace.  Every time.  Without fail.

Imitating God in this way is precisely the point of faith.