Glory in the Mundane

Achilles, King Arthur, Aragorn, Anakin. Heroes. Every young man’s dream. I grew up with a world in my head. These men swirled through it. I always wanted to be the hero, to swing a sword and save someone, anyone. I didn’t really care who. I just wanted to matter. The story that was my real life seemed boring. 

Now I have my own kids. My kids are in their own worlds often where I have to wake them and bring them back to reality. I am a part of their story. 

My wife and I often talk about the laundry and the dishes. No matter how many we do, with 5 kids, there is always more. As soon as the sink is empty, it fills back up. As soon as the hamper is empty and the clothes are folded, there is another sock, sweatshirt, burp cloth, or something. There is always something to do. Solomon had something to say about all of this. 

Our conversations swirl around the idea that this is vanity of vanities in life, but also that there is a glory in the work that we are doing. We are growing, shaping, molding lives. Lives that are similar yet different from ours. Lives that have been gifted to us from God, picked for us. 

I bring all this up because I teach. Doesn’t matter what subject, I’ve taught quite a few, students will always question why they are being asked to do something. Sometimes it is because of bad attitudes. Hopefully it is because they are looking for the usefulness of it. As the person assigning the work, I do my best to never assign busy or futile work. Work can be repetitive. It can be grueling. It can cause tears. But it should also cause growth. Fact sheets, sentences, spelling words, declensions, these are all building blocks. Things that flex and work muscles in order to do real things in the future. 

No matter the type of work though, all of these things can bring God glory. Stoicism is on the rise again because it correctly places the responsibility of the person back onto their response. It doesn’t matter what life throws at you. It matters how you respond to it. Stoicism has that part totally right. Only Christianity can complete the cycle though. It matters how you respond to it because what life throws at you is from God. You can either correctly see it as a gift from Him or you can complain against the God of the universe. It is your choice. This is the choice you have though. No matter what your parent, teacher, or friend ask of you to do, it is your responsibility how you respond. Are you going to respond rightly? Or are you going to be a fool?

The world is full of things that are great and not so great, at least. The crazy thing is that the things that I think are not so great, someone else thinks they are awesome. So, is there really anything that isn’t great to someone? I would say that if it is lawful until God, it is amazing, even if I don’t really like it. 

But honestly, as Robert Capon put it in his book Supper of the Lamb, the paintings in the Louvre are not on trial when I go to look at them. I am. The amazing things in this world that God gave to us, to humanity, are not on trial here. We are. We should be working to shape our loves to better mirror the things that God called good and not the other way around. 

At ECS, we understand that we are in the business of shaping loves. We encourage our students to love the great big world that God has given to us to enjoy. 

If you want help in shaping the loves of your child, perhaps we can help. I know that I need help in this, which is why I have my kids at ECS. Perhaps I can help round out yours. 

There is glory in the work, no matter how mundane it may appear.

Our info night is coming up. 

Hope to see you Tuesday night. 

Details are here.