“Choices” (08/01/2025)

Choices. We all make them. Our lives are full of choices. They matter. I recall one choice that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It touched me. It taught me.

It was 1999. I had a chance to watch the CMA (Country Music Awards). I remember settling in my chair with my glass of tea and looking forward to listening to the various country music artists who were on tap for that evening’s awards.

George Jones had been nominated for Single of the Year for his recording of “Choices.” But the awards execs wanted Jones to do an abridged version of his song, “not more than a minute.” George was hurt and refused. He didn’t even attend the awards ceremony. Alan Jackson was a rising star. His recording of “Pop a Top” was also up for an award, and he was asked by the award execs to sing his song – the whole song. Jackson agreed.

When it came time for Jackson to perform, he and his band started out with “Pop a Top.” About a minute in, there was an instrumental interlude, and then instead of picking back up with singing his hit, Alan Jackson sang:

“I’ve had choices

Since the day that I was born

There were voices

That told me right from wrong.

If I had listened

No, I wouldn’t be here today

Living and dying

With the choices I made.”

Alan Jackson sang George Jones’ hit, “Choices” instead of his own hit song. The audience understood. This was Jackson’s way of honoring the veteran county music artist whom he felt had been treated poorly. The audience rose and began clapping. Jackson received a standing ovation not for his recording but for his tribute to his friend and mentor and protest of a wrong.  I was struck by Jackson’s courage because he wasn’t supposed to do that. I was struck by Jackson’s loyalty to a friend. I was struck by Jackson’s choice to right a wrong he felt had been done. And I was struck by the words of the song at the center of it all.

After Jackson’s performance, he was told he’d never overcome the upset of the award execs. But that isn’t the way it turned out after all. In 2001, at the CMA Awards Ceremony, Jackson was allowed to debut his moving song, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” addressing our reactions to 9/11.  He has won “Single of the Year”, “Song of the Year,” “Album of the Year” and “Top Male Vocalist” more than once. This past year, Alan Jackson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by CMA.

That night, my opinion of Alan Jackson changed. Today, if you asked who my favorite musical performer is, I’d probably say Alan Jackson. Before that night in 1999, I thought he was talented, but I didn’t really care for him and his jeans without knees. After 1999, I learned to look beyond the missing denim to the man. And I learned to like his music.  His choice that night in 1999 convinced me to look deeper.

One of the reasons this incident has stuck in my mind is that it demonstrates a situation most of us find ourselves in at some point in our lives, having to choose between doing what is right in the moment for the sake of another over doing nothing to get along and get ahead. The world around us as well as our own dreams and desires can make us shy away from doing the right thing for fear of the wrong reaction from others.

Jesus knew we would be tested. Jesus was and is very aware of the choices we face in life. He himself was confronted often over His choices. He warned us that choosing Him could put us at odds with others around us.

We are given choices throughout our lives. As the song lyrics say, there are voices that tell us right from wrong. Chief among them is the voice of Christ who taught us that we are called to live lives of love and our choices are to reflect that. And who of us can forget Christ’s most loving choice? He chose love for the Father and love for us over himself. It cost Him his life and, in the process, He won ours.

Choices. We all make them. Our lives are full of them. That’s not the question. The question is “Are we acting out of love?”  The question is “Will our choice enlarge and deepen our relationship with our LORD or another or will it harm that relationship?”  

Choices. May the voices we hear in our heads and hearts lead us to make wise choices, brave choices, loving choices.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.