Psalm 104:10-24
God in the Normal Days

He sends forth springs into the valleys.
       They run among the mountains.
They give drink to every animal of the field.
       The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the sky nest by them.
       They sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his rooms.
       The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.
He causes the grass to grow for the livestock,
       and plants for man to cultivate,
       that he may bring forth food out of the earth:
wine that makes glad the heart of man,
       oil to make his face to shine,
       and bread that strengthens man's heart.
Yahweh's trees are well watered,
       the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;
where the birds make their nests.
       The stork makes its home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats.
       The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
He appointed the moon for seasons.
       The sun knows when to set.
You make darkness, and it is night,
       in which all the animals of the forest prowl.
The young lions roar after their prey,
       and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they steal away,
       and lay down in their dens.
Man goes forth to his work,
       to his labor until the evening.
Yahweh, how many are your works!
       In wisdom have you made them all.
       The earth is full of your riches.

World English Bible

One of the indicators of the well-being of our faith is how we handle "normal" life. Most of us let it slide by as a filler between the major events. During the work week, we look forward to the weekend, and we count the days until our next vacation. Our church years are often geared towards the next major event, like the season of Lent preceding Easter and the season of Advent leading to Christmas. We might fall into the habit of downplaying the "normal" days because our focus is on the special days to come.

Of course, we know better than to ignore how God works in "normal" days. The stories of the life of Jesus are filled with encounters with others on normal days, and the parables of Jesus are filled with references to normal, daily activities. We also know that the "fields are ripe for harvest" not just on special occasions, but always.

Still, that isn't what caused this psalmist to break forth into song. This psalmist wasn't writing about an extraordinary encounter in a normal day, but praising God for creating a normal day! It is God whose power makes the sun rise every morning, that brings autumn after summer, that creates and sustains the life-giving cycles that form our ecology. It is for that very normality that God deserves praise.

We have a cultural bias that encourages us to miss the beauty of these patterns of life. In modern Western societies, our models for thought tend to be linear -- A causes B, which causes C; X happened first, then Y, then Z. We are biased towards seeking a logical causality in anything, and we tend to see anything in a de-constructive fashion as the sum of its parts. Thought patterns like this have driven the Industrial Age and encouraged the creation of myriad inventions that have reshaped our world.

To give us a different perspective on the scriptures, and on life, we occasionally ought to consider other patterns of thought. In the time the Psalms were written, the predominant Eastern philosophies emphasized circular thinking rather than linear thinking. What was will be again, just as the sun arcs through the sky daily, and the moon proceeds through phases, and the seasons follow one another in orderly fashion. That which broke the cycle often meant bad news, as in the rainy season that failed to come, or the unexpected flood, or the earthquakes that cracked and shifted what had appeared solid ground.

In our linear thinking, we're drawn to what is different; maybe we should also be drawn to what remains the same. We can live our lives waiting for the big blessings to come, or we can thank God for the surety of the blessings we receive every day, and in doing so, make ourselves more available to serve God on the "normal" days.