"Friday Night is Like Getting Hit By a Bus"

Chrissy and I were sitting here, trying to find a good way to describe the state of emotional fatigue that we often feel at the end of the week.

(Sorry to be a "Downer Douglas" here. Just tryin' to be honest.)

We don't always feel as though we've been hit by a bus on Fridays. Sometimes it feels more like a smart car or a bicycle. "But wait!" you may say. "I thought Christians were always cheerful, happy, luminous people."

Well, we may give off more than the average glow in the early morning, but as often as not, that's simply the powerful cosmic force of strong coffee flowing through our veins. In actual fact, I believe, it is quite normative for Christians to feel absolutely overwhelmed by their circumstances. I think that the psalms themselves were actually meant to give voice to the people of God as they felt particularly impressed by their life situations.

Psalm 69 has always comforted me in this:
"Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God."

I feel like this guy must have just tried to go grocery shopping with his kids.

The beautiful thing about the psalms, though, is their perfect mixture of honesty with hope. The psalmist continues:

"But as for me, afflicted and in pain - 
may your salvation, God, protect me.
I will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
The poor will see and be glad - 
you who seek God, may your hearts live!
The LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people."

Amen! We'll get through this. Nap time will come.

It will be beautiful.

Rainy day #3. I think we're ready to move on.

Jesse and Janna found a bug. Note how Janna is not crying? This is a major breakthrough. Now to study the infinite mysteries of insectitude.

So, I'll rant about this another time, but I'm a firm believer in the Christian cultural mandate to study and create culture. Anna Karenina was written right in the midst of Leo Tolstoy's realization that Christ is the way for all men to find life and peace. Also, it totally speaks to our tendency to try to find happiness in our own selves as opposed to something that's outside of ourselves and greater.

I finished the book last fall and have been meaning to watch the movie ever since. Tonight is the night. 

Ok. I'm done.

Homiletically yours,
Until next time...