Back in 1997, two relatively unknown screenwriters/actors would take Hollywood by storm. Guys you may have heard of: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Yes, Batman and Jason Bourne got their first big break in screenwriting by co-authoring the Academy Award winning film: “Good Will Hunting”. Amazing movie! There is an iconic scene where Matt Damon’s therapist, played by Robin Williams, tries to get the troubled yet brilliant character played by Damon to open up, become more vulnerable. Williams suddenly seems to take a detour in the scene when he begins discussing his wife,’She used to fart in her sleep.’ Damon’s character is caught off guard by this comment right out of left field (apparently the entire cast was laughing hysterically as Williams went off script) Just as the laughter is slowly dying down, Williams adds,’God I miss her…….she’s been dead for 2 years now. It’s crazy that those are the kind of things you remember. Those little idiosyncrasies that only I knew about her and she knew about me. It’s what made her my wife.’ (Drop the mic!) Williams was touching on the thing that makes marriage so powerful, yet so difficult. To be fully known, even the ‘ugly parts’ of you and to still feel safe and accepted. It’s also why the scripture most often refers to our relationship with Jesus as a marriage. A place where we can be fully known and yet feel safe and loved. Marriage is wrought with many high highs (birth of a child, wedding day) and low lows (death in family, sickness), but most of it is walking through life with someone through the daily routine. A smile here, a laugh there……”Ordinary Time”. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this (I wasn’t) for 100’s of years the church at large has observed a seasonal yearly calendar that revolves around: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter. These highly focused Holy Seasons make up 19 weeks in the calendar year. The remaining 33 weeks make up what the church refers to as “Ordinary Time”. May we learn to enjoy ordinary time with God. Not just high seasons, but in the daily routine of life. Jesus’ ministry on the earth lasted roughly 3 years, I’m guessing the previous 30 years, of which we know next to nothing, there was a lot of ordinary time. The time between the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi, and the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, was 400 years! That’s a lot of ordinary time. Enoch is a man highlighted in Hebrews 11 as a great man of faith. What did he do that was so great? All that we really know is found in one simple verse:
“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
Genesis 5:24
Sounds like he mastered the art of ordinary time with God.