Devin Dignan talked about choices and responsibility in his Sunday morning talk at Baccalaureate. "When I graduated in 2004, you guys were still in eighth grade," he said. "We didn’t have a three-peat in track, the trip to Carnegie Hall, and the school didn’t have wireless computers or air conditioning," he said. "Things have changed a lot. Well, Mr. Healy tells everyone during announcements to make it a good rest of the day. So, some things don’t change, I guess."
Dignan said that they were six hours away from getting their diplomas, and that after that, they would be faced with a world of choices. "That diploma is worth more than a piece of paper," he said. "You’re an adult, and you’re determined by your ability to make choices. In the next 3-5 years, the decisions that you make will shape you for the rest of your lives."
Then, Dignan asked what would motivate people’s decisions -- the world, or God. "Are your choices going to draw you closer to God or push you away from him?" he asked. Dignan said that about a month ago, he was watching a D-II softball playoff game and one girl, who was mired in a 3 for 34 slump, crushed a pitch and hit it over the fence for the first home run of her four-year career. The shot broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning. But then, something horrible happened -- as she was rounding second, she tore a ligament in her knee and fell down, unable to complete her trip around the bases. The rules say that in order to score, a runner must circle the bases without being physically assisted by coaches or teammates, meaning that if she failed to touch third and home, she would be out and it would still be a 2-2 tie. But then, the opposing shortstop and the rest of the opposing team helped her around the bases so that she could score what turned out to be the winning run. "Nobody would say that what the shortstop did was the wrong thing," said Dignan.
Dignan went on to talk about David and the choices he was faced with. For instance, David could have simply dropped off the cheese and went home, but he chose not to. He twice could have killed Saul in cold blood, yet he chose not to. "How far will you go to accomplish your goals?" asked Dignan. "Will you compromise? Will you put false info on your resume? Can you be content with what God has in store for you?"
For instance, he said that people don’t always live up to their billing; for instance, David not only seduced Bathsheba, he tried to get Uriah to sleep with her to cover up the fact that she was pregnant. But after Uriah refused to sleep with her because of his bond with his fellow soldiers, David had him killed. As a result, his family was torn apart, Absalom revolted against him, and he was not allowed to build the temple. "It’s amazing how much a bad choice can do to people," said Dignan.
Dignan said that the Old Testament was dominated by the choices both God and man made. God chose to create the world. Man chose to eat the fruit. God chose to give man a second chance. God chose to reveal the law and deliver Jericho by means of the Israelites walking around in circles and blowing their trumpets. Jerusalem chose to fall rather than to turn back to God. Jesus chose to live among the poor and then die to redeem us. "Are we going to be accountable, or are we going to pull ourselves away from God?"
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