When I was younger, I longed to be ordinary.
There was nothing ordinary about me. I thought my hair was great. My classmates thought it felt weird and worried that I was dirty because I didn’t have wash it daily. I was smart. My classmates only thought that applied with it came time for group work, otherwise we quit mingling at the threshold of the classroom. I didn’t swear. I definitely wasn’t normal, because everyone swears, right? I am very shy. This gets mistaken for snobbyness, as though I keep to myself because I think I’m above everyone. Little do they realize that I tend to think that I’m the lesser.
I figured if I could fit in, life would be better. I needed skin that was pale like theirs, with only a tan for some colour. If I would speak in their lingo, I’d be looked at as cool. If I was more brash and cared only about myself and no one else’s feelings, then just maybe I’d fit in.
Then I grew up. While ordinary implies that there is no special quality or interest, I began to see it as a big plus. Not being ordinary has helped to make me me. I had to learn to form my own opinions about my life and be willing to stand firm in what I believed. The thought of dumbing down and earning mediocre grades just to fit in seemed foolish to me.
Most of all, this unordinaryness led me to discover that life is never truly ordinary. If I may be honest, some of the most ordinary people I know aren’t truly happy? That is not a life I envy today.
Jesus, though He appeared to fit in at a quick glance, really didn’t. He was always the odd man out. Even among His disciples, He was the peacekeeper while they fought. Jesus always talked and lived out His faith, while His friends questioned theirs time and time again.
He was willing to give His life in exchange for mine. There is nothing ordinary about that.
An unordinary life is one of great blessing.
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Some days, I’m scared to start writing because I can see the path where my words are going and I’m not always ready to follow. Nothing ordinary here.
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