Can you remember back during your school days... When it came time to choose teams - for baseball or a spelling bee - we would all line up and the team captains would choose the teams. The best runners and hitters (or spellers) would get picked first. Those of us who were not especially good athletes would squirm in the line - alternating between looking like we were above such things, or trying to look impressive, or trying to be invisible. How we all dreaded being among the last ones chosen!

After we leave such schoolday experiences behind, I think that we tend to prefer to choose for ourselves what we will and will not be part of, and on what terms. For the most part, we do just that - choosing where we live, what jobs we will (or will not) do, what grocery, friends, hairstyles, you name it. We Americans relish our freedom to make our own decisions and to shape our own lives.

And, yes, we can decide which church to attend and how often. We can choose to support it with our time, our money or our skills. But.. before we ever even think about learning about God, before we choose whether or not we will listen for God's intentions for us, before we pray or cry out for help, God has already done the choosing. Just as Jesus chose his followers, God chooses each of us.

This is hard for some people to accept. After all, we live in the land of the free. We are supposed to be making any decision about us, aren't we? Well, yes, but... God comes first. Long before you and me, long before the Declaration of Independence or even the Magna Carta, there is God. And God chooses us first. Before we are born, God knows all about us.

It can be kind of scary to think that God knows us that well. Kind of intimidating that God does the choosing (and we don't like intimidation). But what a comfort to think that even though God knows us that well, God still chooses us. It can be exciting, too, being picked for God's team. What adventures lie ahead for us! Go, Team!

Jayneann

June 2009 letter to members and friends of the United Methodist Church