What is "Normal?"
Believe it or not, there really is a way to know and live out the truest purpose for being alive. But it isn't an ideology or philosophy; it's a Person!
Christ is risen!
American author and humorist Patsy Clairmont famously said, “Normal is just a setting on your dryer.” She was hoping to communicate that many times, our idea of what is “normal” is unreachable and a source of shame in our lives. This insight is very much correct. Because we don’t scrutinize our definition of “normal,” we often miss the opportunity to deal with reality.
But that doesn’t mean there is no true definition of “normal.”
One of the aspects of Orthodox Christianity that drew me to the Faith so many years ago was the final realization that if I don’t actually live in reality, I will constantly be enslaved to wrong perspectives about my life. But how do I define “reality?” What is “normal?” The Church answers this question in a very peculiar and challenging way. The Church insists that “Normal” is a Person, not a set of expectations or disembodied ideals! Jesus is Normal! “Normal” isn’t an ideology or even a way of living or some “self-help” guruism.
“Normal” means understanding my life, purpose, and reason for being here through knowing and becoming like the only Truly Normal Person to ever live—Jesus Christ. He is the only standard of “Normal” that will ever make me “Normal.”
Look at our lesson today in Acts 12:12-17
IN THOSE DAYS, Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran and told that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are mad.” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel!” But Peter continued knocking; and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell this to James and to the brethren.” Then he departed and went to another place.
This is one of my favorite scenes in the Book of Acts. St. Peter had been arrested by the authorities for spreading the News of the Resurrection, and an angel had come in the night and released him from jail. Read the whole chapter if you get the chance.
Suffice it to say, this event happened just as Herod was looking to kill St. James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, and the faithful thought St. Peter was next. So, they were in constant prayer for him. The Lord answered their prayers, and St. Peter went to Mary’s house, where all the faithful prayed for him. Notice what happens next. Rhoda hears Peter’s voice at the gate, but, and I love this, “in her joy,” she doesn’t let him in but runs and tells the other believers. They, in turn, out of their doubt, don’t believe her. But then some of the more “spiritual” members (you know who you are) say that perhaps it’s Peter’s guardian angel.
Amazing. They were praying for the very thing they already had, but for some, joy didn’t allow them to believe it or act on it, and others simply didn’t believe it was possible. Still, others wanted to make it all about some cosmic spiritual experience. But Peter kept knocking! And when they finally opened the gate, he had to tell them all to be quiet so as not to give away where they all were!
What a powerful picture for you and me today on how to live a life of faith. First, when you pray, don’t be shocked when the answer comes. Of course, it did. Don’t allow joy or doubt or even some easy explanation to dismiss the wonderful grace God has given you. No, open the “gate” of your heart and allow the joy to be sober, the doubt to be quieted, and the all too easy explanation to be made mute in the face of the real thing! Then, be quiet! The gift of God, the answered prayer, is yours. Let the fruit of that wonderful moment mature you and fill you with a quiet confidence that protects your heart from spiritual pride or self-righteousness. And then don’t be surprised when you’re told to move on! Let God set your idea of what a normal life is supposed to be!
Reading the story of St. Lucillian of Byzantium and his fellow martyrs shocks and saddens me, but it also challenges me to reset my idea of what a “Normal” life is really all about. St. Lucillian was a pagan priest in the later years of the 3rd century AD. He became a Christian at an old age and was arrested for abandoning the pagan religion. He was brought before a local nobleman named Silvan the Count and was commended to return to his duties as a pagan priest. When he refused to deny Christ, his jaw was broken, beaten with rods, and hung upside down in the prison cell. In the cell with him were four Christian children: Claudius, Hypatius, Paul, and Dionysius. All of them were tortured to get them to renounce their faith, and all refused. Finally, all of them were taken to Byzantium (the very city that would become Constantinople once the capital was moved there), and the children were beheaded, and Lucillian was crucified. A Christian woman named Paula, the Virgin, retrieved their bodies and buried them as Christians. When this was discovered. Paula was beheaded for her faith. There is still a Church built in their honor in Constantinople.
Today, the purposeful Orthodox Christian life makes “normal” the real and active presence of God in our lives. Normal Orthodox life has intimate and real examples of God’s love and His actions. We are not to be intoxicated by these normal events. We will be strengthened and made more peaceful and bold in living a truly Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. Let all of us entreat Christ the Lord's holy Martyrs, for they make supplication for our souls' salvation; with faith and with longing, therefore, let us draw nigh unto them, for they overflow with the divine grace of healings, and they drive away the ranks of demons in terror, as guardians of the Faith.
