The majestic and mundane

My adrenalin rushes as the wind blows through what little bit of hair I have. My eyes are wide open soaking in the spots of blinding, golden light randomly braking through the gaps in the tall, sturdy trees. Where golden light doesn’t flow, it is filled in with a light washed in emerald by the foliage towering overhead. My muscles are on fire from the energy spent tooling along the well worn bike trail. The crisp air burns my lungs as they are refilled with much needed fresh air. It is amazing how much more air is needed when you are pushing your way through a six mile trail of ups and downs, bumps and roots, mud and clay, rocks and logs. To top it all off, during the whole time, I am serenaded by a surround sound song of birds and blowing wind no THX system could touch. To some this sounds ridiculous and like a waste of time, to others it is pure elation. For me it is the latter.

It is during this kind of exercise every man is confronted with the fact that he is not one of those in The Fellowship of the Ring. What? I know. What do fictional characters in middle earth have to do with three average guys biking in a national park in Williamsburg, VA you ask? My answer: Every man, at this point, is confronted with the fact that he cannot, as our friends of the fellowship, go at full force forever, especially when you happen to be what most people would call… husky. So, I did what any music loving, biker (or should that be any biking, music lover?) would do. I pulled out my handy, dandy iPod (seriously, you need to get one), and I put in the only logical musical selection for the current circumstances. Within seconds, I’m worshiping with one of my favorite hymn writers, David Crowder. I’d explain this last sentence more, but that is an article for my music page. Within moments my energy and vigor is restored as my toxin induced muscle pain goes away and I become intoxicated with a joy in Christ.

Soon my intoxication turns into joyful inebriation. I find myself singing joyous praise to the Lord without concern or worry of who hears it or what they think of it for that matter. Over the next 2 ½ miles I worship joyfully and out loud to Intoxicating, How Great, No One Like You and finishing my 6 mile loop with Reprise. I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon. Even my ½ mile trip back to the car was filled with praise and worship as I rode my bike with hands extended to the sky and my eyes intermittently closed (intermittently being key to a safe arrival to my car) singing to All Creatures#2, a beautiful version of All Creature of Our God and King.

Minutes later, however, life would resume. I would put my keys in the ignition and the mundane would resume. Would worship continue during this time? Or would I simply, without surrender, resume my thoughts of everyday life. I’m not implying here that the necessary and often, ironically enough, mundane things of life can or should be neglected. That would be irresponsible. But would I let the mundane things swallow up my worship?

See, He is God during both the majestic as well as the mundane and equally worthy of praise during either. My circumstances can’t be what dictate my level of praise, though it often does. Even now, my mind, while I try to keep it focused on Christ, is being torn away to conversations and situations that weigh heavy on me. And, in that, I am reminded even more of those who endured difficult situation, in which my circumstances look like mere child’s play. Then again, their Christ-like reaction would be why they are called “men of whom the world is not worthy.”

Christ is Lord and worthy of our praise no matter what the situations or circumstances, reactions or feelings. So, as you go into this next week and you face the boring and mundane, the difficult and stressful, let your heart be turned to praise just as it would during the exciting and exhilarating, the simple and joyful.