RBWords

     Joshua has managed to bring the Chosen People across the Jordan (dividing it like the Red Sea!) into the Promised Land.  Now he confronts them with a basic question of faith.  Will they fall into idolatry as they have so many times before, or will they serve the Lord who has brought them through the long journey to the land "flowing with milk and honey?"  When the People proclaim they will serve the Lord, Joshua, like Moses, provides them with a "copy" of the covenant and sets up a rock as a kind of memorial witness.

     We know what happens because it happens to us all the time.  It will not take long before the People will find the Canaanite fertility religious practices to be more convenient and satisfying.  Monotheism will have to battle a lot of distractions.  It still has to do that.  We renew our personal covenant with the Lord every time we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We promise not to "worship other gods," and we continue to fail.  The religion of comfort and convenience or pleasure or the God of our own designs is a tough option to pass up.  But, there really IS no other God.  Any "other" God is one we try to create and that's not something we have the power to do.  The best option is Joshua's option:  "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  Anything else is sheer fantasy.   AMEN