Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has
Tom Hennen
its own personality quirks which can easily be seen
if you look closely. But there are so few days as
compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it
would be surprising if a day were not a hundred
times more interesting than most people. But
usually they just pass, mostly unnoticed, unless
they are wildly nice, like autumn ones full of red
maple trees and hazy sunlight, or if they are grimly
awful ones in a winter blizzard that kills the lost
traveler and bunches of cattle. For some reason
we like to see days pass, even though most of us
claim we don’t want to reach our last one for a
long time. We examine each day before us with
barely a glance and say, no, this isn’t one I’ve been
looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for
the next, when, we are convinced, our lives will
start for real. Meanwhile, this day is going by perfectly
well-adjusted, as some days are, with the
right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light
breeze scented with a perfume made from the
mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak
leaves, and the faint odor of last night’s meandering skunk.
Today was a gorgeous day. The sky was deep blue. The temperature was mid 70’s. There was a light breeze. I had no particular responsibilities today. I sat by the sea, which washed ashore just so. It was “wildly nice!” This day went “by perfectly well-adjusted, as some days are, with the right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light breeze scented with a perfume” of sea air.
I was reminded again that God is in the ordinary days of our lives, and that unless I pay attention, I will miss the beauty of his presence. Hennen says with “barely a glance” waiting in “a bored sort of way,” we expect our lives will start for real on some future day.
I can’t help but wonder what opportunities I miss when I don’t take time to see with my spiritual eyes the day that God has given me, the common graces, the blessings, the beauty of His creation.
May I not set aside a day thinking of it as having no consequence. Because “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” each day must have a significance of its own.
Take my life and let it be
F. R. Havergal
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
Today we go about our everyday life while others experience poverty, hunger, isolation, loneliness, even war, the thunder of missiles, the threat of death. It seems unfair that some are in such tragic circumstances, and our day was like the day before – perfectly, well-adjusted. May we never take for granted the comfort of our lives. May gratitude well up within us for our ordinary days!
Grant that we may hear your words,
R. Alves, Prayers From the Heart
spoken in each thing of everyday affairs;
Coffee, on our table in the morning;
the simple gesture of opening a door to go out, free;
the shouts of children in the parks;
a familiar song, sung by an unfamiliar face;
a friendly tree that has not yet been cut down.
