Ordinary

Displayed between Milwaukee and North Avenues on Ashland Road in Chicago's most hipster neighborhood is a simple black and white sign which reads, "I want to be Ordinary".  "What kind of fleeing message is this kaleidoscopic city trying to brain wash us with now?!" was my first glance's thought.

Then I digested it a little.

Ordinary and extraordinary are two words that have swirled through my mind for well over a year now.  I'm not prepared to break it all down but here is a simple bite for now.

I'm a glutton for the extraordinary.  It is most notably related to traveling to new places and seeking new experiences.  I want to do something incredible like bike across the US, travel to every country, bungee jump the Grand Canyon!  I could continue this list for pages!  I can become bored of the ordinary quite quickly.  But as a friend once told me, "You can't have one without the other and the both are necessary". (Or something akin to that.)

The Lord uses all.  He uses both the ordinary and the extraordinary for our growth.  Tonight my mind was brought back to the Sacramental elements.  In communion and in baptism He determined that the most ordinary and common substances, water and bread and wine, would be set aside.  They would the substances used to nourish us, to sanctify us in Christ.  Which is extraordinary!

So yes, of course we want extraordinary things for our lives but let us not forget strength and fortitude and nourishment and growth that comes from the ordinary.  Let us remember that what is built in those times prepares us for the extraordinary (both the hardships and the wonder).

Let us not despise the ordinary.

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