Back to Reality

Well, that’s it. The balmy days of summer are well and truly over. You can pack away the deck chairs, buckets and spades for another year. You won’t be needed that suntan lotion for a while either. Soon those times spent lazing on the beach under the scorching gaze of the sun will be nothing but a hazy memory. With the summer holiday season gone, it’s back to reality.

For some that will mean back to school, for others back to work, for others still back to the routine of life in retirement. But the reality of our everyday lives beacons and there’s no getting away from it. For some, perhaps many, reality is exciting and fulfilling, but for others real life is often a bit of a drudge.

But as the old song tells us, “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it”. The most mundane things in life, like preparing a meal or fixing a dripping tap become a joy when we do them for someone we love. Love elevates the everyday beyond dutiful drudgery and gives our lives meaning and purpose.

The Christian life is motivated by love. God the Father loved the world so much that he gave his Son to die on the cross for our sins. That great love is poured out into the hearts of his people by the Holy Spirit. Believers are called to respond to that love by devoting the whole of their lives to God as an act of loving service. It’s good to get away from it all every now and again, but back to reality holds no fear when shaped in every part by the love of God. 

* For September's News & Views, West Lavington Parish Magazine.