A riveting title, right?
I feel like it’s the time of the year where I take a deep, deep breath before plowing forward into the next thing—that being my senior year of college, and potentially my last semester in Bismarck. That would make this my last summer as a kid. Jeepers. And I don’t necessarily have any wild stories to tell.
I remember receiving writing assignments in English classes and being handed a sheet that said, “Words to Use Other Than ‘Good.’” This was probably a nice vocabulary exercise for younger writers, but I think this word conveys something that its synonyms can’t. I’m talking about the fact that we use this word to encompass the majesty and grandeur of our Lord: “God is good.” Even God Himself used this word when He created the universe: “God saw that is was good.”
This summer was good because it was infused with the goodness of its Maker. It wasn’t a good summer because I had a wild conversion experience that changed my life like in 2012. Nor was it good because of some crazy adventures like going to Italy and a zillion concerts with my best friend like in 2015. No, it was good because with every little aspect of daily life, Jesus Christ was creating opportunities for small conversions of my heart. It was good because the whole summer was an adventure called Life with Christ. It was good because, through it, I was brought to a heightened awareness of the prevalence of God’s goodness in my life, even though a lot of the time I doubted and even rejected it.
I had a good summer, but it was an ordinary summer. Perhaps the most striking season during the Church year is Ordinary Time. No, really. With Ordinary Time, we are handed the challenge of finding Jesus Christ, offering sacrifices, striving for virtue, and living joyfully within the context of everyday life.
Since 2012, I can pinpoint at least one or more significant events that made the summers since then quite extraordinary. When looking back, the summers kind of peaked in 2015 and slowly declined when it came to “significant” events, making this a very ordinary summer. This summer I worked for my Diocese for the fourth summer in a row and worked at Hy-Vee for the sixth consecutive summer. I worked with many people that I’ve worked with for years. I lived at home in the same house that I have since I was four years old with the same people that I have since I was born.
Nowhere in the definition of “ordinary” does it say, “lacking beauty, goodness, and adventure.” This summer, I helped run the church camps that I have been either attending or helping with since 2011. I worked both of my jobs with one of my best friends. I witnessed men I love dearly be ordained to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. I partied with over 200 alumni from the UMary Rome Program. I dove deeper into a dating relationship, which is the coolest and scariest thing of all. I lived this summer in quiet gratitude for the graces I have received summer after summer, and school year after blessed school year. But this is what ordinary people do—they live every single day as if it’s the greatest adventure ever, because it is, while taking the time to notice how good is our Lord Jesus. And I can say that I at least attempted that throughout my ordinarily good summer.