Preference Paths

 Often town planners look at the routes people take in deciding how to modify roads or footpaths. We often see this when people have their favorite rabbit runs to cut through suburbs to arrive at their destination more quickly. In a similar way, you see the tracks where people walk being worn down by foot traffic. Each of these decisions looks at the best way of arriving at our destination more quickly. Also in the second place it looks at our preferred traveling companion who we want to accompany us on the way. This allows us to notice not just the direction we are heading but also who we join us on the way.

The question is not just about noticing our own identity that can be defined by our family and friends but also who we welcome into our orbit. It allows us to appreciate that we are called to be who are in our relationships with others. Jesus expands the orbit beyond what is familiar and focuses on how we are called to become disciples. This growth in holiness assumes that our lives are deeply influenced by another. Matthew continues to ask us to notice how our lives are to be orientated towards God and not just to our own parochial interests. He calls us to be transformed from the inside out and to notice how we are called to live in a way that guides our thinking, our speaking, and our acting.

This is an orientation to our true self seen through the eyes of God. We are called to live in a way that builds on good foundations where we are blind to our own self-interest and moved more clearly towards God's-interest. Often this can be portrayed as polar opposites but rather it is a correcting of our aim to actually see the good entrusted to us as being lived not just for ourselves but for the good of all creation. This is about expanding our hearts to discover God's preferences for us and not just our own. When our hearts are in tune with God we discover that we can love from the heart and with all our soul. Our thinking is motivated by this motivation and it channels where we spend our time, energy, and resources. The preferential option is not just what I want but who God desires me to become. In this way our preference paths guide others to discover their own way of life that calls us out of the darkness.