extraORDinary

This is a prayer from the February 5 reading of Common Prayer:

Lord, remind us that it is not always agitated uprisings and nonstop activity which lead to justice, but that change often comes through the quiet commitment of a small group of people. Help us raise our small body of people to set about quietly becoming the change we want to see in the world. Amen.

The prayer above is interesting.  It's not a bring down the house kind of prayer.  It's not a call to action.  Well, actually I suppose it is.  It's a call to a quiet commitment.  It's a call to set about quietly becoming the change.  It's revolutionary, but not in the typical revolutionary kind of way.  No shouting, fighting, or calling to arms.

I was reminded recently of some of the personal goals my husband had when we married.  They were fine goals.  They were reasonable and most likely achievable.  But that's just it.  They were about achieving.  And they would have required nonstop activity and noise.  The opposite of the above prayer.  So I'm glad he didn't obtain them. 

Yes, I know that sounds strange.....I'm glad my husband did not meet his goals!  I'm happy he's not doing anything extraordinary.  And neither am I doing anything extraordinary, of which I'm also glad.

But really, I'm not sure if that's really true.  Get this:

Unless you make what is right left, and what is left right, what is above into what is below, and what is behind into what is in front, you will not learn the Kingdom.
Acts of Peter
The Apocrypha

[please do not label me as a heretic for quoting The Apocrypha]

But please do consider, perhaps we live in an upside down world, and what we deem as ordinary is often [as on a regular basis] actually extraordinary:

taking a walk with your family

making dinner with someone you care about

eating a meal together

watching a football game with your spouse

listening to an orchestra

riding a bike or hiking a trail or running in the rain

teaching a child

cleaning your bathroom

being alone

In other words, quietly becoming the change we want to see in the world.  And being thankful for the joy found in that quietness.