Reflection for Janurary 20, 2010

1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
Psalm 144:1-2, 9-10
Mark 3:1-6

52.
That’s the magic number.
Only 52 days...until NCAA March Madness begins.

Selection Sunday is March 14, tipoff of the 65/64 seed matchup is March 16, and first round action starts on March 18th. Ok, so maybe you’re saying to yourself, “Mark, that’s 8 weeks away! We’ll be halfway through the semester and already back from ‘Spring’ Break, why are you bringing it up already?”

My answer, “Come on now, I know there’s at least one person in this room whose blood runs a little hotter with the thought of Selection Sunday, the office pool, the underdog, the bracketbuster, the tiny 14 seed knocking off the second-seeded powerhouse in the first round, the Cinderella story, the last second buzzer-beating half court shot for the victory, David v. Goliath, Cleveland State over Wake Forest, Dayton over West Virginia, Western Kentucky over Illinois AND THAT’S JUST UPSETS from the Midwest!” Are you fired up?

Ok, really, I only brought this up to show you how familiar the story from our first reading tonight is in secular culture. David and Goliath, who doesn’t know about those two? The young, unproven, untested, unexpected ‘little guy’ unbelievably defeats the champion of all champions. But for me, this story isn’t about how to win, it’s about discernment.

On the 8-day silent retreat last week, which I would highly recommend, I hoped to discern where God is leading me. I went in saying “God, talk to me! Say something, I don’t care what, just tell me what you want me to do! Then I got specific: Doctoral work, teaching, or something else entirely? Married life or priesthood? Date girl A or girl B?”

I struggle with questions like this all the time. Some of you probably do too. For me, the story of David and Goliath illustrates the answer I heard on retreat. So a simple question: how does David do it, how does he go into battle? I have two observations.

First, true to Catholic form, the reading skipped over vvs. 38 and 39 where it says that Saul, Israel’s King, suited David in his own armor: tunic, chain mail, bronze helmet, and sword. But David was uncomfortable in them, saying “I cannot go in these, because I have never tried them before.” So he took them off.
This is simple, but insightful. If David wears the armor and fights like Saul, he probably dies. If he tries to be someone other than who God created him to be, he probably fails. We do this every day when hide our true-selves behind worldly armor, behind somebody else's armor, forgetting to live life as WHO WE ARE.

Second: Yes, David goes into battle as a shepherd – as who he is – but he also is clearly confident that his victory won’t come by his own might, but by God’s. David’s confidence to be exactly who he is, even facing death, comes from knowing WHOSE HE IS. David is confident that God works through him when faces the world as his true self.

There it is, a phrase I’ve used here before, “remember who you are and Whose you are.”

On retreat this is what I heard: “Mark, any of those paths would be a good path. Choose one, choose the one that most excites you, that you’re most passionate about, that feels as if it fits. Don’t put on somebody else’s armor – wear the armor that fits you – and then, trust Me. But in whatever you choose, be like my Son, do good rather than evil, even when the world says you shouldn’t. In whatever you choose all you have to do is love the best you can.”

Discernment isn’t about figuring out what God wants you to do; it’s about choosing to love in whatever you do. So if you’re like me, if you struggle with making decisions and you wonder what God is calling you to do, take my mom’s advice: go with your gut, make a choice, and despite what voices you hear in the world, love even when it doesn’t seem like you should.