Just an Ordinary Day…
…which could seem boring, tedious, tiring, unexciting—or just a waste of time. But yesterday I was thinking: will there come a time when I’m reaching the “end of my days” and the thought of just an ordinary day would be wonderful?
There’s a Psalm that talks about the number of days we humans have on Earth: “Seventy is the sum of our years, or 80 if we are strong. And most of them are fruitless toil, for they pass quickly and we drift away.” (Ps. 90) At the beginning of life, that span of years may seem quite long—hundreds of hours and days. Think how SLOW your childhood seemed—endless days of play and not much pressure. You thought you’d never grow up—and have all that adult power! But the years passed.
There were many times in our life journey when adulthood seemed an endless stretch of work, responsibility, problems—but also power and meaning. Once we began to feel like an adult, it seemed like we had LOTS of time—to learn, experiment, create, make mistakes and do better next time. Adulthood was a long stretch with time for many options and do-overs…time for “wasting” days here and there, since we expect the years to just keep slowly unfolding. And so, we have the luxury of time to rank days as really great, unforgettable, mediocre, or even terrible. Good days and bad days to enjoy or gripe about. But from time to time, life sobers us—as babies grow up too quickly, or friends and family leave us. Yes, we realize as the psalmist, this life passes quickly. And at the “end”, we may say it passed like the blink of an eye.
Perhaps the September trees, already dropping leaves, remind us to reverence each day…not judge it, not be untouched by our beating heart and quiet steady breathing. But to hold each day with gratitude and cherish the wonder of our incarnated Self, our Earth time…celebrating every ordinary day, every ordinary passing second as miraculous, blessed, holy. We’d surely feel that way about our LAST two days!!
Think of a recent unexciting, blah, or unpleasant day—and then think of 3 things that were silent blessings in your day, or gentle graces in your living through that day. Benevolent Creator, may we take no day for granted, May we gracefully pass each day from sunrise to sunset with awe at the Mystery of the gift of life. May we rest in your divine providence that knows our days and orders all for our greatest good!