An Uneventful Week!

How has your week been? Mine has been quite uneventful (except for a bit of a stomach bug that kept me at home for a couple of days). I know that for some, having an uneventful week might seem like a bad thing. I’d say, however, an uneventful week is actually a pretty good thing. After all, I don’t necessarily want my life to be constantly filled with all kinds of excitement, drama, and thus, stress. Sometimes it’s good to have an uneventful week. 

Does that mean my week was boring? Not at all. As I mentioned, it unfortunately included a bit of illness. Besides that, I had some chores to accomplish at home and my normal workload for the church, including preparations for Sunday’s sermon. Kim and I attended our church’s marriage class online.  And I did get to watch a bit of the Madrid Open (tennis) on television and finish a book I had been reading on The Battle of Monmouth (a turning point battle for the American cause that took place right here in Monmouth County). So it wasn’t a do-nothing, boring week. It was just a normal week without anything taking place that I would consider to be out of the ordinary. 

So, where am I going with all of this? Why write about what would seem a non-event? Because if you think about it, the bulk of our lives are made up of uneventful days, uneventful weeks, and even uneventful years. Oh, we may have some high points which stick out to us and fuse themselves into our memories. But there is so much of our daily lives that is just part of the routine and thus easily forgotten. It’s no wonder we can’t remember what we ate last week for dinner, no less what we did a year ago on this date (unless it was one of those high points). Our lives are filled with a whole host of very normal, uneventful activities that gain little attention—not from us, nor from those around us. And if you ask me, that’s ok. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s what life is made of. 

In fact, the Christian life itself is made up of lots of uneventful activities and actions—i.e., things we do that are meant to be ordinary and routine as we follow Jesus. “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12); “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39); “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37); and “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13) These are just a few examples of how it is we as followers of Jesus are called to live our lives on a daily basis.  They might not be characterized as the “big event” that so many people seek after, but they are what we might call the bread and butter of the Christian life. 

Let me caution us against building our lives based on the “big event”—i.e., one big experience after another. Oh, those may come. But a real follower of Jesus knows that their life is meant to be based on living with Jesus as their example; obeying his instructions in the small things of life; and doing so day after day, week after week, and even year after year. We may seemingly have a lot of uneventful weeks, but that’s ok if we are simply living the way Jesus would have us to live. 

Besides, who knows? Maybe all those seemingly small, uneventful things we do will one day add up to something very big!

Have a great day! 

-Pastor Tim Harris