Same ol' same ol' - Holiday edition

Routine is an interesting phenomenon. For people like Liz and I, routine is something necessary. We like having certain days where we do certain things. We enjoy knowing pretty much what we're going to be doing and when. It's a source of comfort in an ever changing world. It allows us to stop worrying so much about all the changes going on around us, and instead focus on the more important, more lasting things. Indeed, never changing routine is a reminder to man of the eternal destination that awaits him in Heaven. Scores of monks and nuns have lived their lives behind the never changing walls of cloisters. They have spent their lives doing very nearly the same thing, at the same time, day in and day out for years. They do these things "routinely" so that their minds and hearts no longer cling to this changeable world, but instead reside in a changeless life to come.

While Liz and I definitely do not have the same routines of monks and nuns, we do have certain things we do on a regular basis. We go to mass at 7:30 in the morning and then come back and have breakfast. Then it's off to work, only to meet up for lunch at 12:45. Then to work again and home again at 5:00. When I get home I feed Alan his rice cereal, and Liz and I have dinner. Then the little guy goes to bed at 6:30 or so, and Liz and I have the rest of the evening to ourselves. This pattern is repeated often, with the occasional break-up, such as dinner on Thursday nights with Walter and the gang.

So, it is a little crazy to be thrown off this routine, something that is certainly very common starting with Thanksgiving, running through Advent and past Christmas and the New Year. This time of year is a time when routine is thrown right out the window, and we are asked to pack an incredible amount of meaningful activities into a very short period of time. And thus it's begun, starting with this past week when we drove 13 hours out to Illinois for Thanksgiving with my family, during which time we had two relaxing days of just playing with Alan and two more days of lots of visiting with family. During this time, we had no chance for 7:30 mass, lunch at 12:45, or any of the rest of the schedule (not to mention what a big trip can do to a 7 month old's schedule, though in fairness it didn't really affect him much until after we got back).

Having gotten back on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday have mainly been about trying to recuperate and get back into the routine. In trying to get back into our normal routine, it has struck me exactly how beautiful routine is. Over the weekend I realized routine is valuable not just for those times when you are living it, but also for those times when it's impossible to live routinely. For, when you're 13 hours away and visiting family, the impulses of routine still work on you. Having become ingrained in your soul, they still draw you to the permanent truths, the higher things.

By living routinely, we cultivate a soul in which the habits of drawing our minds to God can be firmly implanted. During the craziness of the holidays, it is so easy for us to lose sight of these habits. With so much earthly goodness, i.e. family, friends, food, presents, etc..., we can forget to draw our minds to God. Since we our out of routine, we lose those times when we would normally pray and talk to Him. However, if we're living out a regular routine outside of these crazy times, we will have impulses that we carry with us when we're out of our routine. We'll recognize when we're not drawing our hearts to God, and we'll miss it. We'll want to draw our hearts to God.

The challenge for us during this time of Advent and Christmas is to answer that call of the routine. No matter how busy things get, we must let our normal daily prayer lives make their demands on us. We must try to live out our routines as much as possible, but when it becomes impossible we must still answer the spirit of those same routines. The spirit of our routines, being deeply ingrained in us, are there to draw our minds back to God. This calling, this impulse, is a gift God gives to us to remind us of Himself during hectic times. This season, we must be docile to this calling, and no matter what is going on, we must raise our minds to God.