Lately I've noticed that people are a bit on edge, a bit irritable, a bit sad, a bit off. Sometimes, when I examine my own heart, I am one of these people. Perhaps it's the let down after Christmas, perhaps it's all the grey days we had in January, perhaps its all the time spent inside. I don't know. But I do know many people have been feeling down and overwhelmed and weary.
Perhaps it's just the day-in, day-out reality of waking up, vacuuming, going to work, feeding the children, exercising, taking the garbage out, school, church, and the small, unpleasant interruptions along the way. The co-workers swearing as they tell their story, the child who does not listen and need correction again, the dishes that are never done, the school readings that are always awaiting you.
We must rid ourselves of the delusion that it is major events which most determine a person. He is more deeply and lastingly influenced by the tiny catastrophes of which everyday existence is made up, and his fate is certainly linked predominantly to the sequence of these miniature occurrences." Siegfried Kracauer (The Salaried Masses)
Kracauer was a German Jew who fled the Nazis and landed in the USA. His quote rings true. We are more determined by the "tiny catastrophes" of the everyday than the few major events in life. Our characters are built in the mundane.
A friend and I were talking about this recently, both of us tired and overwhelmed. She pointed out that its a bit like when your house is a disaster and you don't know where to start, so you don't start anywhere. But (as our mother's taught us) it's best just to pick a small thing and get it done; take out the garbage, run a load of laundry, wash the dishes, and before you know it, you're halfway there. This works with more than just housecleaning. Perhaps the school assignments are overwhelming, so you pick a small one and complete it. Perhaps its church involvement (so many programs, so much to do) so you get out your directory and you pray for the families, you attend worship, you invite people over. Perhaps its your health, so you start going for walks every day. Whatever it is, start with something.
Another road block we run into is thinking that whatever we're doing in the mundane is not enough. We think Lord's Day worship, hospitality, showing up at work with a cheerful attitude and working hard, keeping our homes clean, praying, are things that don't matter very much because they aren't big. We're writing texts to friends, not books to the masses. We're running apartment kingdoms of one person, not country kingdoms containing millions.
"All that is gold does not glitter." JRR Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)
I think Heavenly Kingdom gold does not glitter on earth.
Jesus said that when we give someone a cup of cold water in His name, we are doing it for Him. He blessed the widow who gave two mites. He told us to be servants. He told us that the first shall be last and the last first. Jesus' idea of a blessed life is upside down and backwards in this sinful world. Here, you won't get any awards for following Him. We need to stop looking for rewards from men or even from our own emotions. We need to stop getting distracted by what the world calls importance and looking at what scripture calls important.
I hope this encourages you to keep on keeping on. If you spend your life loving the Lord your God and loving people, it will be well spent, whether you do it as a construction worker, bank teller, grocery store clerk, mother, or famous person. And if the tiny catastrophes of the every day make God more real to you, drive you to pray and seek His face, cause you to love Him more and to love people as He does, all the better for them! The mundane is not easy, but it is not wasted time. God is strategic in where He puts His people. Your place at the kitchen sink or hostile work environment is not a mistake.
Come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isaiah 2:5
What I'm Reading Lately
- This is Kate by Margaret Hard. This is an old book I found at the thrift store and I thought it was hilarious.
- Upon Waking by Jackie Hill Perry. This is Jackie's new, 60 day devotional and I'm loving it. Still reading Take Heart by Powlison in the morning too.
- The Mortification of Sin by John Owen,
- Reading the Everyday by Joe Moran is a book I'm reading for my current school course, it's interesting.
What I'm Enjoying Lately
- Music by Thad Fiscella
- Vegetable Ginger soup (carrots, celery, lentils, onion, garlic, broth, all in the crockpot on high for 4 hours, blend it with an emersion blender, then add maple syrup and ginger, salt and pepper to taste, and you're good to go!)
- I rearranged my sitting room area so that I can see the fish tank from the couch.
- All the sunshine and blue skies we've had in February since the very grey January
- Visiting with friends
All that is gold does not glitter// Not all those who wander are lost// The old that is strong does not wither// Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
(Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)
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