An Old Computer, Grace, Ordinary Time, and saying Thank You
A Post-Eastertide Reflection for Ordinary Time
When I was twelve, my Dad surprised me with an unexpected gift. It was an ordinary Wednesday. I had just come home from school. I went to my bedroom, open the door, and behold! While I was at class, my Dad set up my very own computer. It wasn’t a special occasion. It was just a surprising, generous gift. And this thing was the best of the best (… for 1993). It had a 17” monitor, 486 processor, 512 bytes of ram, and a one gigabyte hard drive. It even came stocked with Windows 3.1. I’m talking power, my friends.
I was elated. I was so excited that it led to a spontaneous and unusual display of affection in our home. Growing up, we were more of a stoic home—an emotions are best not expressed home. But I was so happy that I ran to my Dad and hugged him as I said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
It’s difficult to find an illustration sufficient for the gift of grace. Grace is certainly much better than a 486 desktop computer or any material gift in this life. But we must anchor ourselves in the truth about grace: it is a gift. A free, delightful, gift. It is the gift of everything God has done for us in Christ. And the most appropriate response is: thanksgiving. Grace elicits an endless chorus of “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
If you trace the roots of grace in Greek, you will find a verb that means, “I rejoice, I am glad.” The most genuine response to grace is rejoicing and delight. It is to run and embrace our Father with an endless praise of thank yous. Again, once more, and still again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” And this is what the season of Eastertide is all about, giving thanks as we share in the confounding joy of resurrection and all its world-defying implications.
Embracing Ordinary Time
This was the sixth year in a row that I intentionally celebrated Eastertide by attempting to find a moment of joy, reflect on it, and share it. As this practice has matured in my life, I’ve learned a few things (that were instilled again this past season):
Joy welcomes our intentionality but is not domesticated by our efforts. In other words, we can not manufacture joy but we can become more open to joy.
Spiritual joy (or the joy of/in the Lord) is not the same as common joys. But rather than cast a shadow and diminish our common joys, spiritual joy illuminates and amplifies them: every little ordinary joy is a gift and opportunity to give thanks.
Inevitably, I experience an immense joy during Eastertide that makes me think, “Well, this was the peak. It’s probably downhill from here.” But that’s just how joy sets us up for the punchline. Joy will surprise us again at just the right moment.
It really helps to take a seasonal approach to cultivating joy. It’s sort of like the Agrarian concept of tilling the land for six years and then letting the land lay fallow for a year. The rest actually allows the land to produce better crops. So it is with our efforts to cultivate joy: spend a season doing it intentionally and then take a rest. You’ll be surprised by the fruitfulness of rest.
Eastertide is a prime opportunity to cultivate joy for 50 days of the year. But what do we do now that the season is over and we step into Ordinary Time? Do we hang up our hat and stop practicing for joy altogether?
I don’t think so.
The other day, I was reading through a commentary on Ephesians and the author wrote, “Thanksgiving is synonymous for the Christian life.” I highlighted it. Then I underlined it. Then I dog-eared the page. Say it out-loud: Thanksgiving is synonymous for the Christian life. Of course, the apostle Paul said it first (in not so many words). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
What is God’s will for our lives? Often we ask this question when we’re trying to make a big decision or figure out what career to pursue, etc. But according to Paul, God’s will for us is to rejoice, pray, and give thanks. That sounds like a pretty good life to me. This is the heart of our spiritual life in Christ, a life steeped in grace.
If Ordinary Time is about our ordinary, every day lives now lived in the Spirit, then these ordinary every day lives can be highlighted, underlined, and dogeared by thanksgiving. Although we might dial back our efforts to cultivate joy compared to Eastertide, I want to suggest that we still practice thanksgiving. It’s basically a non-negotiable of the Christian life.
To help spark your imagination, here’s a little excerpt from Rhythms for Life. It describes how I have approached intentionally cultivating gratitude and giving thanks:
I discovered the practice of gratitude in my darkest season of depression, and during a time where I was feeling more ungrateful than grateful. Previously I approached gratitude as a more ad hoc practice. It wasn’t intentional. So, I started a gratitude journal. I bought a five-year journal. Each page is devoted to one day of the year and subdivided into five sections. I love this because as time goes by, past entries can be read as new ones are written.
At the end of each day, I write in my gratitude journal (most of the time). At first I would write down basic things I was thankful for such as my daughters smiles, a good night’s sleep, or time spent with a friend. On darker days, all I could muster were bullet point lists like: toothpaste, oxygen, and a home. Over the years, this practice has deepened. I try to give thanks for moments of joy and identify specific moments of God’s presence in my day.
Since I’ve used this journal for a few years, I find that I feel gratitude and joy all over again as I read previous entries. For example, here is what I have written on September 9:
2016 – Two opportunities to share faith. My mom being in town. Your Spirit going ahead of me. Maggie taking some of her first steps. Colin being in town.
2017 – Daddy and daughters’ day while Julia had the day to herself. Jon in town. Premarital with Julie and Steven. The truth that you always pursue us. Time with Alida and her new boyfriend. Swinging Maggie by her hands and feet and her repeating, “Do it again!”
2018 – “Although we are weeping help us keep sowing, the seeds of your kingdom for the day of your reaping” made me cry during worship. Sarah’s prophetic image of a woman’s arm around my back providing comfort— immediately thought of Julia and my counsellor. A day of prayer answered for encouragement through Don, Gogo, and Paul.
2018 – The joy of gospel partnership with Preston. A little bit of progress on Rhythms For Life revisions. Ansley’s first soccer practice and fun as a family.
Want to know something amazing about gratitude? It’s a scientifically-backed practice to improve our baseline of happiness. In-fact, the research of Robert Emmons uncovered that you don’t even need to practice gratitude every day to see the benefits. A few times a week is fine. Even more, if you practice for a season and then stop, the research shows you might still experience the benefits a year later!
Full disclosure: my gratitude journal has been in a season of laying fallow. This is not to say that gratitude and thanksgiving have fallen by the wayside. Our little family intentionally share our “thank yous” together before bed. But Ordinary Time feels like an invitation to get a bit more intentional about this practice again. Because every little gratitude is an opportunity to give thanks. And together, gratitude and thanksgiving build onramps to joy. And sooner or later, joy will surprise us all over again.
Friends, I’d love to hear from you: How does Eastertide shape your experience of Ordinary Time? Do you have any practices of thanksgiving to share with us?