Do Something Epic

I saw an ad today for Christian missions that went “Do something EPIC.”  The implication being, I understood, that you’ll be a hero and change the entire world through this program.

I had a lot of thoughts about that, like “Oh, that sounds draining” or “That’s a lot of pressure” or “Gee, maybe I SHOULD do something epic.  It seems to be the hot thing.”

Really, it’s very popular to talk about doing something great and world-changing.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.  It’s noble and often necessary.  But we as a general (perhaps evangelical) public seem discontented with normality.  Nothing is big enough, has enough impact, changes enough.

I’m not sure about that.

Because my life IS rather normal and for the time being I’m really okay with that. Why can’t normal be epic?  Normal as in just being nice to people, growing a garden, going to work, raising some kids?

Well, I looked up “epic.”  As it turns out “epic” means “long story.”  So someone, probably my cynical self, didn’t fully understand the meaning of the word, but now I am quite relieved.

Because exotic missions trips or no, we are all living out long stories with the people we love doing normal things.  And I’m thinking that maybe, just maybe, as we do normal things in a kind way, there will be some sort of ripple effect that will be absolutely epic.  Epic as in long-lasting.

Jesus said that the Spirit is like the yeast in a batch of dough, working through the whole thing until it rises. If you’ve ever baked sourdough bread with a homemade starter, you know this is a slow, gentle process.  And you always set some sourdough starter aside for the next loaves of bread.  It just keeps giving and giving and giving.

I think that’s pretty epic.

All I’m saying, before my brain turns to total mush for the night, is that I want to live a normal life, let the Spirit work through me so I can be nice to people, and hope that has a long-lasting effect, using my long story to affect and possibly even generate other long stories.

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