Psalm 1: Black and White

We're often told, and with good reason, that life is complex, that things can't be boiled down to black and white.  But sometimes we can be too clever for our own good, looking for ambiguities, reveling in shades of gray, when the choice before us is stark: be wicked, be righteous.  Black and white.  It's that simple.

Of course, actually being righteous and actually resisting wickedness can be a lot harder than we'd like.  It takes work.  We're bound to mess up, make mistakes, get frustrated, stumble down blind alleys, grow disappointed or discouraged.  But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.  And try and try and try.  Lent is a time for us to consider how we can stop traveling the path of sinners and turn our attention to delighting in the law of the Lord.

Hard work?  Yes.  But also an easy choice, clear as the difference between black and white

Psalm 1
1 Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

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