I could become captured by 'this norm' and miss out on the joy of being thankful for the mundane, the ordinary and non-spectacular.
Friday is typical laundry day at my house. That of course begins with sorting darks and lights. Many of us dread this necessary job, but when I take it a step further... I am grateful I have clothes. I am grateful I have an IN house washer and dryer and don't have to go to a laundromat or wash them by hand. Note: in my hippy days I did use a wringer washer that I had to load with water...So yes, I am very grateful that I can sort clothes at home!
A regular news story in the paper is affordable housing in Durango. Yet I become complacent and take my home for granted. I hit the garage button as I near the house and pull into a sheltered space. There again.... I have a car that needs no repair and MY CAR HAS A HOME!
Some people don't have a kitchen! Some people don't have electricity! Some people don't have a car! Some people have only the clothes on their back! Some people can't feed their children! Some people... don't... have... a... home!
I believe thankfulness can transform us. It can transform our attitude of the mundane, making the simplest pleasure life giving. I suggest we rethink and recognize the common, the overlooked, the pieces of our everyday life that have become so enmeshed we don't even see their value any longer. All those tiny moments add up to a lifetime, perhaps not news worthy to the world but the subliminal extension of who we are and how we can change the world one grateful acknowledgement of the mundane at a time.
Pastor Jeff started a new sermon series: "The Good Life". The church was packed and it always astonishes me that in a huge crowd Jeff's words seem meant 'just for me'. This sermon '[Re]framing the Good Life' drew me in, captured my attention and said far more eloquently what I was trying to say in this post.
He spoke of enlightened hedonism: "I recognize I have responsibilities to other people and I'm supposed to love my neighbor and be just and caring, but still my primary aim in life within those constraints is to maximize my pleasure". And unenlightened hedonism: "I don't really care about you. I only care about me, and I want to be happy....I am looking out for number one". As he suggested, I am in the default setting of enlightened hedonism.
And this fits into the grateful thanks for the mundane how? Using the laundry example, I may bypass the gratefulness of a home washer and want the latest and greatest washer/dryer set. I may want/need effective, versatile and efficient. I may want/need quiet and reliable. I may want/need one that offers utility rebates. And of course any gimmicky-sounding feature that advertisers blast onto our conscious mind. If that isn't enough, I will want/need a designated laundry ROOM. After all, my car has a home, why not my washer?
But no, Jeff reminded us (ME) that "instead of wanting the stuff we don't have, we need to learn to want the stuff we do have". And there is the message, cultivate 'the good life' in grateful thanks for what you do have.