People who are high all the time are normally considered addicts. Unless one happens to be the kind of person who’s naturally and invariably happy. If such is the case, they’re actually a Disney character. I wish I could say that the opposite is true as well- that humans whose daily existence is at a significant, steady, low ought to indulge in fewer depressants or perhaps they’re Eeyore.
Life is more than a combination of mountain top and valley experiences. Sometimes, we just live somewhere in the middle. The alarm goes off at the same time Monday through Friday, we have the same conversations and do the same work each day and we look forward to a weekend that we undoubtedly waste and somehow miss so badly when Monday morning hits.
This is ordinary time.
The concept is new to me, but then again, so is the church calendar. I’ve been a Christian for nine years and I’m just now learning that there’s a basically agreed-upon order of events and seasons throughout the year. Furthermore, each has its own corresponding color! Pentecost is red. Easter is white, Lent is purple… all news to me. But ordinary time (tempus per annum) is green. We’re about to start the long season of ordinary time, which lasts until Advent.
The Church is starting a time where we acknowledge regular life, work and play. The fact that we have this tells me that believers don’t have to steadily strive for the next God-thing that ought to change us, our neighborhood and the world. We don’t have to be super-spiritual. At the same time, it points to a notion that God is with us when everything is normal and perhaps a little humdrum, too. We can count on Him to bless us and to comfort believers as we mourn, but he also does regular stuff with us, like work a nine-to-five job and go for sweaty jogs at mediocre speeds because our love handles are starting to freak us out a little more than they used to.
I’m grateful that life isn’t exclusively comprised of mountaintop experiences. Because I wouldn’t have time to read, play video games or nap. Nobody takes naps on a mountaintop, which is unfortunate, because nap time is its own little victory in my world.
Here’s a thought…I used to live in the mountains and one of my favorite hobbies was to find hiking trails up the mountains and simply walk for hours. Now when you are on these trails it can be pretty hard work. All rocks and trees, roots and sweat. There’s nothing glorious or wonderful, simply one foot in front of the other, don’t trip on the rock, look out for the outcropping. And then without warning you come to an overlook, you can see for miles and miles. The beauty is breathtaking, overwhelming, it awakens a homesickness for a land you’ve never set foot in…
…and then it’s back to walking, roots, trees, sweat..
David, you make a point. There’s a lot of plodding in between views and glimpses of glory. Being a city person (as much as one can be in Idaho) even going to the mountains is a treat, living in them just sounds so foreign. HA.
Ordinary time. I like that concept. My life seems to be a lot of mountains and valleys (Czech trips, Romania trips, starting of a school year, retreats) and then a lot of in between which is usually prep for the mountain tops. Having ordinary time is necessary – and typically what my summers are all about.
I’m with you. I feel like my last year has been a ton of really high highs, and hard, dark lows. I know that when I get back from Rwanda, it’s going to be just this though, a season of normal work and play. I’m okay with that.
Ordinary time isn’t so ordinary when one is trying to get rid of the love handles!
Maybe we should have our own personal colors and tributes to keep focused on what’s truly important… instead of being like a Winnie the Pooh character… I think we get called to order regardless of the season. It’s good to catch up again, brother.
Floyd, we’re due for a real catch-up. I don’t know when, but we’ll make it work 🙂