I just finished watching season 1-9 of The Office for an embarrassing number of times. I introduced my son to the show the time around (fast forwarding through the parts or skipping episodes which are inappropriate and I don’t care to watch myself).
My son makes fun of me because there are about three to four scenes which almost always cause me to get teary-eyed. The hug between Jim and Pam when she remembers 1 Corinthians and her wedding vows is one of them. Gets me every stinking time. But one that really stirs me as well is the last line of the show:
“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?” –Pam Halpert, final line of The Office
Part of it stirs me because it’s flat out beautiful. It captivates nine seasons of a show which really was about the beauty in the ordinary. We loved The Office because we could see ourselves or our co-workers in many of the characters. They were ordinary. Like us. And that line infuses a bit of meaning into our ordinary.
But I think that line especially got to me this time around because it’s such a part of my journey with Christ. My worldview has radically changed within the past couple of years. I’m healthier mentally and emotionally than I have ever been.
Last August I was deeply rattled by the news of another pastor who had committed suicide. On that occasion I wrote this:
This happening once is too many. But the frequency with which I’m hearing of these things is staggering. And I’ve been thinking for awhile now about depression/suicide and how it relates to pastoral ministry. I want to do something about this. I want to raise awareness. And I think it’d be helpful. I think at least in some ways it is helpful for folks to understand a bit about the weight and burden of pastoral ministry. It’s helpful for people to know that some folks talk to pastors like they would never talk to another human being. There are dehumanizing things which have sadly become part and parcel of the ministry of many folks. And so awareness is helpful.
At the time I proposed a different strategy to raising awareness. I somewhat jokingly suggested we need lighter topics for our awareness months. I suggested I Just Grilled An Awesome Steak month.
The article is long dead, as many ideas and articles die the death of obscurity in Al Gore’s basement. But the idea wasn’t. At least for me. I took it seriously. I took my joy in Christ seriously. I took my mental health seriously. And I dug into this journey of hope.
I made it a goal to learn a new skill every month and to celebrate it. Nothing too outlandish, just something small that I could complete within a month’s time. I’ve learned to make omelets, discovered some great crock-pot recipes, how to make fortune cookies, learned to play bridge, and figured out how to somewhat quickly solve the Rubik’s cube (almost).
Doing this simple discipline has helped me to stay grounded and has given me a sweet taste of life. It reminds me that I’m alive. It prods me to be a life-long learner. I think the best resolutions are Creed Bratton type resolutions:
I wanna do a cartwheel, but real casual-like, not make a big deal out of it. But I know everybody saw it – just one stunning, gorgeous cartwheel. –Creed
I’m wondering if you would like to join me. It’s a simple plan. Step one: pick something you’ve always wanted to learn. Step two: learn it. Step three: celebrate.
I’ve started a Facebook group to create a community of celebrating and encouraging one another in making simple goals, raising awareness of hope, sucking the joy out of life, and celebrating the goodness of God in our exploration of new things. Will you join me?
