Hastings: A necessary choice

“I now call upon you to revere and serve YHWH completely and sincerely … If you do not want to worship YHWH, then make the decision today who you will worship … As for me and my house, we will worship YHWH.” — Joshua 24:14-15 The Inclusive Bible

Years ago, women in my hometown had a weekly method of accomplishing household tasks. They would wash on Monday, iron on Tuesday, bake on Wednesday, sew on Thursday, clean on Friday and make preparations for church on Saturday so that Sunday could be a day of rest and worship.

Many years ago, Susanna Wesley, whose husband Samuel was a pastor, developed a methodical system for accomplishing daily tasks. Having given birth to 19 children in 19 years, she homeschooled the 10 who survived because there was no public education; and children without education went to work in the mines where many got black lung and died. To preserve her children’s lives, Susanna designed a daily schedule for rising, eating, singing, prayer, study and household tasks. When Samuel complained about her “constant infernal sense of order,” she said, “An orderly day provides for everything to be done.” Susanna became known as the “Mother of Methodism.” Today, those who homeschool their children are still inspired by her methodical wisdom and orderly ways.

In the beginning, at Creation, our God brought order out of chaos in a systematic and progressive way. God assigned to humans the high calling of taking care of the created world. In time, God called a shepherding people to embody divine presence and neighbor-love in the home, community, and throughout the world. To accomplish this great task, God gave the people a covenant of blessing and a wise Law to give order to their days. The Law provided a system of daily rituals and reminders, weekly worship and Sabbath rest, and annual times of solemn remembrance and joyous feasts. The people loved the Law because it provided a wise and well-ordered way of living in the midst of many ideas and ways of being in the world.

Today, especially in an election year, amid conflicting ideas and messages, each person needs to discern between chaos and order, lies and truth, self-serving or self-giving leadership. To do so, one must first make a necessary choice — the one Joshua called for in his final official act: to follow “other gods” which leads to chaos, or to commit wholeheartedly to God’s wise order which leads to unity and peace.

The Rev. Celia M. Hastings has a master’s degree in religious education from Western Theological Seminary in Holland. She is author of “The Wisdom Series” and “The Undertaker’s Wife.”