Monday (to Saturday) Blues

 

My husband gets the Sunday Blues. Around 4 on Sunday afternoons he gets cranky and restless at the thought that the weekend is "beginning to end" and Monday will soon be back with its weekly share of work related stress. Sometimes he fights it by going to the gym for an hour, sometimes he and his favorite ten-year-old assistant bake a cake, and sometimes we all go out for a walk or some ice-cream.

Now and again, in our spiritual life, Christians get the Monday-to-Saturday Blues.

On Sunday we gather in God's presence, surrounded by a loving community of like-minded brothers and sisters and as we worship together the Creator, Reedemer, and Sanctifier of all life, we find ourselves lifted up, above the cares of the world and at peace with God and one another. Yet, when the weekdays come, we grow more and more distant from God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves becomes a chore.

How do we kick the Monday-to-Saturday Blues?

We get into a routine of soul-exercising a.k.a. prayer. Through prayer we keep our connection with God, we continue the conversation started on Sunday morning, we find the strength of pursuing God as God never tires of pursuing us.

We do something constructive a.k.a. service. Through service to others we model our life on Jesus life, we give of ourselves as He did and does for us in the Eucharistic bread and wine.

We meet our brothers and sisters in Christ a.k.a. fellowship and study. Through spending time with Scripture and other works of our Tradition we look at how others in the past (and in the present) have experienced and conquered the equivalent of "the Blues": those times in which God seemed distant and our neighbor unlovable.

And of course we look for our community, the other children of God who are our help and comfort at all times. The ones who may or may not be experiencing the same feelings, but who are open to listen and to share.

 

If all this doesn't work, of course, you can just give me a call. It doesn't happen EVERY Sunday, but if you are lucky, there may be cake...