1-16-2023
It’s Ordinary Time. If you are Catholic, you know what that means. The Christmas season is officially over, (sigh of relief!) but don’t get too excited, it’s almost Lent. “Always something” as we like to say. And so it is in the Church, and in life. As I get older, I appreciate the ordinary much more. I even prefer it. Just an ordinary day, what is more blessed than that? A day where nothing extraordinarily good, or bad, happens. I’ll take it!
Years ago, someone told me to be thankful for an ordinary day because she had just gotten word that a friend’s child was helicoptered to the hospital and it was no ordinary day for them. It was a reminder that we must count our blessings each day for we don’t know what tomorrow, or even the next minute, will bring. (This awareness riddles me with constant anxiety but that is another article.)
Ordinary doesn’t have to mean something negative, however. We often think ordinary is boring, nothing special, even worthless, but ordinary can mean life is good and as it should be. Often, getting through a regular day has enough adventure of its own. One statistic states that 60% of our day is composed of routine tasks so we need to make them count. We can notice the sun on our face while we’re outdoors running errands, we can do a random act of kindness for someone, or we can make it a point to be more conscious of the beauty around us. A few years ago there was a row of beautiful sunflowers in my neighborhood, so I walked over to take some photos. We can find extraordinary moments in each day if we but notice.
Our daily routines give us a rhythm and flow I have only come to appreciate the older I get. When I was young, I thought most old people were in a rut. I was looking to the ones that seemed more what psychologist Abraham Maslow referred to as self-actualized. Now I know that rhythm and flow can give us more peace and security, more contentment. Routines reduce our stress because we know what to expect. It’s nice not to have to face a crisis or big decision every day. That is the beauty of an ordinary day. Life is easier when we don’t have to think about our every move and we know our toothpaste will be there when we reach for it.
We do God’s will in the midst of ordinary. It is our earthly calling. Many saints of old and monks in monasteries today live simple lives offering their mundane tasks, such as routine cooking and cleaning, up to God. We need to learn to welcome the ordinary and seek God there because most of our moments really are quite ordinary. If we can’t find the meaning and magic in the mundane, we will miss so much of what life and God has for us.
So don’t curse the boring and the ordinary, it is often a good place to be! Don’t get wrapped up in always looking for something better or greater, because it is in the simple, regular moments of our lives that we can find meaning and God. So go embrace the ordinary! You will be richer for it.
