Groundhog Day Devotional
For many, the words “Groundhog Day” brings images of Bill Murray sitting up in his bed as Sonny & Cher sing in the background. Then he launches into another repeated day. Many have used that movie reference to euphemistically describe our Covid world now. Every day the same. Not me, friends. When I think of Groundhog Day, I think of the coldest morning of my life: being convinced I had frostbite and would lose toes, and the final thought, “Wait, was that it?”
“Wait, was that it?” has been a sad chorus for me over these months. I was going to read heavy books, write a symphony, and do some awesome fixes around the house. Eleven months later, I read a lot of Facebook, listened to lots of yacht rock, and just changed out my first light fixture in the dining room (important room, ‘cause I like to eat). To my grand plans, I wondered, “Wait, was that it?”
I have three little kids. I was psyched that we could do some awesome things together. Read new books. Get better at the instruments we were just learning. Maybe even use some tools to build stuff around the house. Eleven months later, we have read a million emails about school, gotten pretty solid at Wii Guitar Hero, and are absolute masters at pounding… our feet up the stairs when we get mad. Eleven months later, “Wait, was that it?”
Part of me wants to say that I pretty much messed this Covid thing up. This was not what I thought it was going to be. I had all of these grand plans. Covid was going to be a time of doing the same thing every day for everyone else, but not for me.
Alas, I have regrettably thought, “Wait, was that it?” many times over these months. Occasionally, I project God as having that same purview. Thankfully, God isn’t like me. God’s joy isn’t tied to achievement. God has seen the resilience and beauty of the struggle. “Wait, was that it?” Yep. And God was there loving it. S
Pastor Michael Sourwine
Pastor of House of Prayer, Aliquippa
msourwine@hoplutheran.org
