What is Normal?

I have a dear friend in Tennessee. She is a great lady however she has a habit that is quite unique. When asked “how are you” she always answers “Normal”. It’s such a standard answer that some of us call her Sister Normal! Now I just have one question, What is Normal? I’m not sure I know what Normal is.

I was visiting with some of the CPH family this week and we were talking about things at the hospital getting back to “normal”! I really don’t think for many of us things ever will “get back” to normal! One of the definitions in Webster’s Online Dictionary is conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern. I don’t want to get too carried away with this whole “normal” thing but I think there is a nugget here.

It is so easy to think that our life “should” be normal when we really don’t know what “normal” is! It is also easy to have a standard or regular pattern that we think our life “should” fit into. However seldom if at all do our lives fit into that pattern. I think it’s great to have standards and a regular pattern for our lives to meet or measure up to. The problem with that is there are “other people” in this world that we must interact with on a regular, and I do mean regular, basis.

The problem with Normal is that these other people that we must interact with on a regular basis don’t always measure up to our standards or follow our regular pattern. I have some possibly very disturbing news for you; most people aren’t going to measure up to your “standard”. Most people I know are defective. They have flaws and cracks and all sorts of “issues”.

Now, I think I know what my friend in TN means when she says “Normal” and I think I know what we mean by returning to “Normal” However I’m not sure! I mean is there really any such thing in the life of us humans as a Normal Day? Doesn’t it seem that every day is Unique? Doesn’t each and every day have just a little different twist to it? Wouldn’t Normal get very boring? I mean doing the same old, same old stuff day in and day out, come on? Let’s think about this for a moment can you really define a Normal Day? If you could describe a normal day would you want that kind of day every day????

I want to challenge you to drop the word normal from you vocabulary. I want to challenge you to let go of yesterday. One of my favorite quotes is “Yesterday ended last night” Today is a brand new day, I mean brand new. It has never existed before on planet earth. I want to challenge you to live for Today. Don’t try to make today fit the standard of yesterday. Yesterday is gone forever! Today is a brand new day!!!! Oh and tomorrow, don’t’ even think about it! Tomorrow will never come because when tomorrow gets here it will be today! Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Get over it, let it go. Let’s embrace today, today, and live it to the fullest. Normal? Never! Let’s embrace today with all it’s problems and opportunities.

Why have a Normal Day when you can have a Brand New Day?

Loving Today,

Pastor Alan