Ki Tavo: It's Not So Odd

There is a famous poem by Ogden Nash:

How odd of God / To choose the Jews¹.
It wasn't odd /The Jews chose God².

Perhaps we can use this as a good summary of the message of the following section in parshat Ki Tavo, where we are to be the am segulah:
{Devarim 26:16}:

טז הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה--וְאֶת-הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים; וְשָׁמַרְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ אוֹתָם, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֶׁךָ.	16 This day the LORD thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances; thou shalt therefore observe and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
יז אֶת-ה הֶאֱמַרְתָּ, הַיּוֹם: לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו, וְלִשְׁמֹר חֻקָּיו וּמִצְו‍ֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו--וְלִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ.	17 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and that thou wouldest walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances, and hearken unto His voice.
יח וַה הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לָךְ; וְלִשְׁמֹר, כָּל-מִצְו‍ֹתָיו.	18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be His own treasure, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments;
יט וּלְתִתְּךָ עֶלְיוֹן, עַל כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, לִתְהִלָּה, וּלְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאָרֶת; וְלִהְיֹתְךָ עַם-קָדֹשׁ לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר. {פ}	19 and to make thee high above all nations that He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the LORD thy God, as He hath spoken. {P}

We may easily read this as a reciprocal relationship -- we choose Hashem as our God, and so Hashem chooses us as his nation. Our tefillin have "Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad," and Hashem's tefillin have "Mi KeAmcha Yisrael Goy Echad BaAretz."

We might also read it as automatic. What makes us the am segulah, the chosen treasured people? The fact that we have chosen to follow God and adopt his holy, ethical laws makes us by definition "high above all nations that He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the LORD thy God, as He hath spoken."
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1 William Norman Ewer
2 Ogden Nash's reply