Choose What Gives Life

Growing up, my dad used to say he had two dishwashers – my brother and me. Obviously said in jest, it makes me think about the comforts of daily life. You can think about the great figures throughout history: Cleopatra, Charlemagne, and Louis XIV to name a few. Regardless of how much wealth, pomp, and splendor surrounded them, they did not have the creature comforts we enjoy today. It is almost too easy to have things like hot water, air conditioning, and even automatic windows in our cars. So obviously, we live in the happiest era of all time, right?

We all know that is not the case. Despite so much progress, many still struggle deeply, suggesting that comfort is not enough for happiness. We have made life easier, not fuller, because we have not learned how to live. Jesus doesn’t just give advice about how to live; he gives himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

We need to learn from Christ to choose life: to choose a way of living that is life-giving and not life-draining. When you think about tomorrow’s activities, look at what is life-giving and what leaves you empty. We can run them through the filter of what Jesus would do with us. He said, “I am Life,” and we should learn to take him seriously. The more we align our lives with Gospel values, the more sense and purpose we find in our lives.

It is too easy to be seduced by the pleasures of this world. It can be drugs, alcohol, or using others rather than loving them as God intends. All of these behaviors, as attractive as they may seem, are life-draining rather than life-giving.

If we want to live according to the Gospel, we also need to put our decisions through the strainer of truth. When the Council Fathers were drafting Gaudium et Spes during the Second Vatican Council, they decided to emphasize the importance of personal freedom. A young Polish bishop, Karol Wojtyla, agreed with this but stressed the importance of speaking about truth. Having lived through Nazi and Communist regimes, he knew that often the powers that be will try to promise happiness without paying much attention to truth. The document produced one phrase that he would quote continuously as bishop and later as Pope John Paul II. “Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light” (Gaudum et Spes, 22).

Jesus said, “I am Truth.” When we are thinking about our life decisions and even just deciding what to do tomorrow, we should ask ourselves about the truth of what we are believing. It is easy to get pulled in by lies and deception. Christ wants to lead us to the truth.

Jesus is the Way. The earliest followers of Jesus described following him as “the Way.” We should ask ourselves where we are going and if we are following a path that Jesus would like for us. Otherwise, we end up wandering into places that take away our chance for happiness and fulfillment.

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (cf. Jn. 14:6). When the apostles ask Jesus to show them how to live, Jesus refers to himself. If we want to live fully, we need to recognize Christ as the way, the truth, and the life.

In the movie Going My Way, a priest meets a young woman heading down a destructive path. He doesn’t begin with condemnation. Rather, he asks, “Are you going my way?” That’s how the Gospel works. It invites.

We can learn to be the same in the way we reach out to friends. Hopefully, we become firmly convinced of the power of the Gospel and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And when we speak with others, we can share our testimony simply and trust in the power of Christ to touch the hearts and minds of those around us.

So when you wake up tomorrow, look at your day.

What is leading you closer to Christ? What is pulling you away?

Choose what gives life.

Choose what is true.

Choose the path that leads to him.

Because if you want to live fully, there is only one way: follow Jesus.