NOW that we are days away from January 1, it is time to reflect on the real frictions of daily living. In the seasons of life, people have the tendency to magnify the “major” celebrations. There is a reason why we value the turning points in time say the beginning of the year or Christmas. It’s part of the fanfare we need or shall we say the spices of existence.
Least we should forget, though, that a bigger fraction of life is “ordinary” and it is in the ordinariness of things that greater meanings are also encountered and felt. So let’s allow ourselves to be seized by the ordinary.
Truth be told, the “ordinary” is no ordinary. In fact it is in the ordinariness of what we do that we see the bigger picture of extraordinariness. This idea or worldview is found in the writings of great men such as the founder of Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei. From him we learn that “ordinary tasks” are where we encounter the Holy. The challenges we confront everyday are in the greater scheme of things sanctifying.
The Jesuit writer John La Farge also speaks of the “the ordinary manner.” But he is not original on this. It was from the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, that we first learn that “all things” and that means that which are encountered everyday that always provide the basic context of all human experience including God. “Whatever one is doing, that which makes you most alive that is where God is.”
It is in the day-to-day grind of things that what is truly best in us is revealed. How we respond to things especially those that spontaneously come along our way reveals our real element. It is easy to speak of great resolutions and make promises when everyone is in hype. Many of the promises that are made in grand ceremonies end up as mere words devoid of substantiation. It is not the wedding vow that makes married life happy but the actual lived experience of the ones who promised to share a life till death separates them.
The same is the case with people who have made a religious profession. Their vows are not in any way magical. It is not the vows in-themselves that would efficaciously transform the person but how such vows are lived in the actual ministry of presence and loving service. I know of many priests and religious who abandoned their promises. It is because the promises no longer mean anything. They have become inefficacious in the face of greater concerns that are encountered in the intersecting streets of life.
There is no denying that we humans are “creatures of promises.” We cannot but be one because promises express the substance of our hopes. It is in the roller coaster ride of life, however, that these promises have to survive. Though there is always beauty in having happy beginnings but not the entirety of human existence can remain that way – not always. We can never be truly human without experiencing lulls and dull moments. Flat lines are always there to push us to stabilize our convictions. This of course cannot happen over a short period of time because it takes the entirety of human living before one becomes genuinely grounded in the face of adversities and uncertainties.
That is why I have a problem with people who keep on looking for “daily inspirations.” There is this tendency to sometimes “fool oneself” by asking “what inspires me today?” But why do you need to inspire yourself if in the first place you do understand what each day is for and why one simply has to continue living each day?
We have a life to live and dreams to fulfill. We have principles to fight for with or without a new year. We don’t need to make promises and resolutions just because it is the first day of the year. But we do need to take good care of our life. Human existence is tough because it really is. Life must be lived. Time is just a construct of the significations and signifiers we need.