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Now there are tests, and there are tests. For Job, this was a big test, a final exam. There are calamities that happen every day to the Jobs of our communities. Car wrecks, diagnoses of terminal illnesses, fires, and violent crimes, just to name a few. In the wake of all of these different crises, there are three things that the victims almost always tend to say: “One day I had a happy, normal, life, and the next day it was all gone.” And, “I saw others whom this happened to in the past, but I never thought it would happen to me.” And finally, the kicker: “If I had known this was going to happen, I would have savored every moment of my life before that day.” Certainly, we cannot spend every day in mortal fear that the luck of Job is going to sweep everything away. We wouldn’t leave the house! We also cannot spend every day like it’s our last day alive, eschewing mortgage payments and dancing the night away when we have to work in the morning. But we can try to make the little things we do each day sacred. Instead of wolfing down breakfast with our noses buried in the daily newspaper (or in Facebook™), how would eating breakfast in a sacred way feel? Perhaps it means putting the newspaper down for a moment, looking our kids in the eyes, and asking them if they are ready for school today – really ready for school. It might freak them out a bit to have a real question asked of them that requires more than a simple grunt as a response. But it might also instill even a small idea in them that what they are going to do is sacred as well – partaking in the sacred act of learning, exercising their minds and developing the skills they need to go out and make the world a better place. Perhaps lunch at work is just a time to sit around and gossip and whine about our jobs. How would it look if we tried to do lunch in a sacred way – what would happen if someone (like you!) at the table articulated the good qualities of that worker everyone likes to complain about? Would it bring the whining session to a screeching halt? The simple fact is that today will be the last day of “normal” life for some of us, so any attempt to savor it and bring some depth into our everyday activities might make a huge difference to us on the other side of our own “test.” It’s like a gift we give our future selves. And speaking of gifts, we cannot forget the folks who are on the other side of their own tests, the victims of crime, the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, and the homeless. There are charitable organizations out there which specifically care for those who, in a day, lose everything. The Vincent De Paul Society, which bears the name of today’s memorialized saint, is one of those agencies. You can most likely name many other agencies in your community which do this as well. If you are one of the lucky ones that are still on this side of the test, consider making a donation of time or money to one of these agencies before the rush of the holiday season. Or, if we cannot help out those who are needy now, just because it’s the right thing to do, perhaps we can think of it as helping our future selves out – those selves that might end up on the other side of the test someday. It could happen. |