Normal?

I had someone ask me this week, "So...are you ready to get back to normal life?"

The question, surprisingly, caught me a little off guard. It has made me stop and think.

What IS normal?

I know, maybe it sounds silly. I don't want to get into wild theories and metaphysics, but it is a valid question I think. In so many parts of life people have accepted that ABnormal for the normal. Marriage, for example, is accepted to have the "goal of permanency" but with an escape clause called divorce that's not fun, but OK for anyone to use if you aren't "compatible." Obviously, that's not God's definition of normalcy. Sexuality has certain "normal" patterns in culture, but God's pattern is entirely different. I could go on, but the point is that there are many places in which the world around us has conformed to a pattern that is not of God and has called it normal. In many cases, followers of Christ have put on the brakes and said, "Whoa...that's NOT normal. Don't conform to that pattern." But not in all cases have we done so...

And so it begs the question when it comes to patterns of work, play, family, priority, etc. "What is normal?"

Industrial society has set up patterns that have changed the application of the Christian work ethic. The hours, demands, and normal patterns for work in modern industrial society in the name of a good work ethic, have, in many cases, created a pattern that in pre-industry were only seen in three areas: slavery, conscripted military and brothels.

Daniel Spaite, in his book Time Bomb in the Church talks about the patterns that we have come to accept as normal and their effects on our bodies. He says that there are chemicals which are released when we experience certain events and circumstances to help our bodies handle the moment well. The problem comes in when the pattern of our life moves us from one of these events to another for an extended period of time. Our bodies begin to accept the presence of these chemicals as normal, when they should be abnormal. I understand this a little experientially right now. Like coming off of an extended fast, my body is moving back into the patterns of daily life, and it's reintroducing some of those chemicals it needs to adjust to these patterns.

I have a ton of questions about this subject. I'm far from proclaiming that "I have discovered the pattern for normal." What I do know, is that many of the patterns we have conformed to as normal are not, but what patterns ARE normal and how do we put ourselves in a place where we can be transformed to them?