ADMMXXIV Retrospective

 And so we bid farewell to the Year of Our Lord 2024. It was an interesting year, a unique year. Dare I say there will never be its like again.

Photo by me. You can't have it unless you ask nicely.

It was not a banner year for the Goode household, but it wasn't the kind that you wince when somebody names, either. 2024 is like that one friend we all have that we don't remember to even think about until he appears across the room at the party and waves. A good fellow, but not very flashy.

So this little retrospective will contain nothing more earth-shattering than normal life. Of course Chesterton would remind us (were he here) that there is nothing less normal than normal life. For is it not in the everyday round of sleep, meals, germs, fellowship, work, and food that immortal souls are forged? So let's work through some areas where God was doing some forging.

Benedict's Rule: Living Life by Worship

 The modern man lives his life by the clock--and his clock is married to the money. 

Modern time is usually measured simply by what we earn or don't earn. Think of any time measurement, and notice how it is tied to labor and pay: the work week, business hours, overtime, the school year (when the kids work), etc. Most of the remainder are tied to labor's absence: the weekend, after hours, vacation, sick leave, summer, overtime. Even our holy-days have become little more than days where, for some long-forgotten reason, most people don't work. We've taken the saying "Time is money" to ultimate perfection.

The Christian may notice all this and smell something rotten. We may mutter about "bad for human flourishing" and "modern idols" and "burnout." But few of us would have the courage to walk away from our own system, to live live by some other beat and drum. Suppose someone walked up to you and suggested that you should pray more; you would nod energetically. Quite a good idea. You really need to pray more.

Then he suggests you start with about five hours per day.

But, but...I can't do that! you think. I have...work...