How to Handle the Unimpressive Seasons Of Life

BY: FR. MIKE SCHMITZ

Who is the most important, influential person in your life? Maybe one of your parents or your spouse or a close friend. It could be your supervisor at work or an aunt or uncle who was deeply invested in your upbringing. My guess is that if you were to step back and put aside the impact that person made on your life, you’d probably conclude they were pretty ordinary. You would look at their day-to-day lives and see that it was filled with everyday tasks: grocery shopping, working at their job, picking up their kids, maybe volunteering at their parish. They weren’t superheroes or great movers and shakers in the world. They were just ordinary people.

In this article, I want to look at what growth in the Lord really looks like. I think when it comes to growth—when it comes to becoming the person God needs us to be—we tend to think of the breakthrough moments. We tend to think of the heroic moments. Maybe it’s like the athlete who in the last seconds of the game does something amazing to bring his team to victory. Or it’s like the moment when your favorite singer wins on American Idol. But let’s look at it a different way.

Take the Long View. Imagine that you took a vacation to Walt Disney World. Now, in the course of that vacation, imagine being asked at different moments to rate your vacation on a scale of one to ten. Your answers would likely be all over the board. At one moment, you’d say, “It’s a ten! We just rode Space Mountain!” But at another moment, you might say, “It’s a two. We’ve been in line for the new Star Wars ride for four hours, and we’re hot and hungry.” But when you’re back in your air-conditioned hotel room and you just took a nap, you might give it an eight.

Then at the end of the vacation, you look back at all those ups and downs, and you would probably give it an eight or nine. You would look back and say it wasn’t just this moment or that moment; it was the whole vacation.

The point is that we cannot underestimate the importance of unimpressive moments or even seasons when it comes to becoming the people God needs us to be. It’s not the massive transitions, like your first week away at college or your first job or your first kiss. It’s not that perfect vacation, not even that one retreat you’ve been looking forward to. It’s just life. Just unimpressive, normal, ordinary life. Most of life is made up of unimpressive seasons. If we waste those seasons waiting for another peak, not only will we miss out on most of life, but we won’t even be able to recognize the peaks when they come.

Just Show Up . . . Let’s look at the story of the Presentation of the Lord to see the difference between peak moments and everyday life (Luke 2:22-38). This story tells us about two people’s “peak moments.” First there’s Simeon, an old man waiting for God to fulfill his promise that he would see the Messiah before he died. St. Luke tells us about the day that promise comes to pass. This is it! This is the best day of his life! Then there’s Anna, who is eighty-four years old. This is the best day of her entire life as well.

How does Luke describe Anna’s life? She started out with a lot of promise. She married, and she lived with her husband for seven years before he died. So Anna spent decades as a widow. What did she do during all this time? She was in the Temple night and day. She found God’s presence and just stayed there fasting and praying. If you were to see Anna, you would probably not be impressed. But day after day, Anna showed up at the Temple to pray. She didn’t wait around for the peak moment; she just kept showing up where she needed to be.

So where do you need to be? Where is God calling you to show up?

. . . And Be Present. But it’s not enough just to show up; we need to be present as well. We know what it’s like to show up but wish we were somewhere else. Maybe we feel that way sometimes at Mass or in prayer or maybe at some family dinners. But what if we not only showed up but became actively engaged, no matter where we were? What if we didn’t just go through the motions but actually believed and trusted that we were where God wanted us to be?

Simeon’s story reminds me of Blessed Solanus Casey, who died in 1957. When he was young, he discerned a vocation to the priesthood and joined the Capuchin order. But Solanus wasn’t very successful in his seminary studies. In the end, he was ordained as a “simplex priest.” He was allowed to celebrate Mass, but he wasn’t allowed to preach in public or hear confessions. What was his job? Answering the door. That was his job for the rest of his life, in every friary where he lived. He sat at the front door and waited for people to come and visit the other friars.

Solanus also led a weekly prayer service and helped in the formation of a soup kitchen in downtown Detroit, but he spent most of his time simply welcoming visitors. That season of Solanus’ life was unimpressive, but it made him a remarkable human being because he didn’t just show up; he was present. He believed that God wanted him there, and so he stayed there.

Whenever someone would come to the door of the friary, Solanus saw that person as having been brought there by God. And as a result of his just being present, Solanus had an effect on countless people. Hundreds of people attributed miraculous healings to Solanus’ prayer for them. Troubled, anxious people found peace through his words. Just because he showed up and was present.

This is what I mean when I say that if we spend all our time underestimating the unimpressive seasons, not only will we miss out on life, but we’ll also miss out on being the people God needs us to be.

Do What You Know. There are two other characters in the story of the Presentation: Mary and Joseph. Put yourself in their shoes. Here they have this baby, the Son of God, and they must have been wondering, “What do we do next?” Imagine them in those days after Jesus was born, going back to Nazareth—with God in their arms—wondering what came next. They did what they knew. And they knew that the Law of Moses said that on the fortieth day, they should bring their child to the Temple for the rite of purification. So that’s what they did. They followed the commands of God.

We can make life so confusing at times, but the answer is often very simple: when life gets confusing, just do what you know. Just start with the Ten Commandments. If you’re attracted to someone who is already married and you don’t know what to do, it’s simple: the ninth commandment says you shouldn’t do anything. Or if you really want something but you don’t own it and you want to take it, the sixth commandment tells you not to take it. It’s that simple. You show up, you make sure you’re present, and you do what you know. Just like Mary and Joseph. Even in those unimpressive seasons of life.

Suddenly. So don’t underestimate the unimpressive seasons! Trust that God wants you to be where you are. Because the unimpressive seasons serve a real purpose: they get you ready. Think about the words from the prophet Malachi: “I am sending my messenger—he will prepare the way before me; and the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple” (3:1). The unimpressive seasons get you ready for that moment when something suddenly happens.

But what is this sudden thing that will happen? It may not be something impressive that gets you noticed or makes you famous or important. Maybe all of these unimpressive seasons are only preparing you for that moment—the moment when you stand before God. Maybe they’re preparing you for that moment when suddenly all of the unimpressive seasons that seemed so unimportant make sense. Maybe it’s all for that moment when you will be who God needs you to be. At that moment, you’ll see what he’s been doing. And in that moment, because you refused to underestimate the importance of the unimpressive seasons, in that greatest moment of your life, at the peak moment of your life, you’ll be ready to see him.

From The Word Among Us

Fr. Mike Schmitz is the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Diocese of Duluth. His book, A World Undone, is available at wau.org.