Today my friend texted me. He wrote, “It has been an exhausting week. I am going to the park and play my drums.” I could immediately relate. He works in a corporate job–a lot of politics, a lot of drama, both of which he hates. He continues working there because for the moment they provide job security and because once upon a time when he first started with the company he earnestly believed the work he was doing was really going to make a difference in the world. It could have, but it hasn’t turned out that way. So he stands strong, showing up every day to do the work he’s employed to do, and on the weekends he goes to the park and plays his drums. I sit here just steps away from my guitar–the equivalent to his drums–and it remains in the case. I think I need to get it out.
I have been out of sorts pretty much all day today. This morning I had a very efficient version of my typical Sunday morning: laundry, grocery shopping, and moderate cleaning up. By 12:30 I was sitting on the sofa contemplating what I was going to do with the rest of my day. I spent most of it watching football, which while of itself not a bad thing to do, neither was it a good thing, not generative, creative, productive, useful. What I am grateful for in this moment is that this day is not yet over. My guitar remains eight feet from where I now sit, and is totally accessible. I am not sure if the magic that sometimes happens when I play will happen this evening, but one thing is for certain: it can’t happen if I don’t take the guitar out of the case and start playing.
It’s the beginning of a new week. As best I can I will enter it with a song or two. Perhaps I’ll challenge myself to play and every day this week and see how long I can manage it: the last time I did that two years ago I played for 45 straight days before I fell back out of the habit. Every little bit helps and so tonight I will begin, though it means that I will write a shorter post this evening. I will close with the evening prayer that I post here from time to time. Tomorrow, as Scarlett Ohara wisely observed, is another day. Let’s make it a good one.
God. It is night. The night is for stillness.Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done;What has not been done has not been done. Let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,all dear to us,and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day,new joys,new possibilities. In your name we pray,Amen. New Zealand Prayer Book,1989
