Ordinary Time

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Like George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” I always thought I was destined for great things. I was going to be a foreign correspondent and travel to exotic places. I did become a reporter for awhile and really enjoyed it, but then I got married, had children, and used my communication skills in more mundane, predictable ways that enabled me to take care of a family. My best friends in college were the same–exciting careers early on with an eventual return to the ordinary. Had we all just given up on ourselves? Sometimes, that gap between the life you imagined and the life you’re living can be the source of depression in your 40’s and 50’s.

Recently, I came across a book by Tish Harrison Warren called “Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life” that has helped me see the blessing of “ordinary time.” In the book, she points out that Jesus spent 30 of his 33 years on earth just being that carpenter from Nazareth, a son and a brother to his family. If he saw value in spending so much of a short life on earth in ordinary time, maybe so should we.

According to Warren, God wants us to see each day for the gift it is. God has named and blessed this average day. What I, in my weakness, see as another monotonous day in a string of days, God has given as a singular gift,” said Warren.

Warren recommends looking for the OMG in the ordinary, like the way my granddaughter Olivia cuddles against me when I pick her up or the perfect shade of blue of the flowers coming up in my garden.

I’m long past age 33, but I don’t think I’m going to waste any more of my ordinary time waiting or wishing for a more extraordinary life. Like George Bailey, I will do the work God has given me to do until He calls me home to the wonderful life He has in store for me.

Carol Madere, First Christian Church