Sep 22, 2022
The Archetypal Day Par Excellence
Lived and lives among us. Divinity is hidden in everyday life. All you have to do is let yourself remove the scales from your eyes. Behind the apparent apathy and pessimism hides the hope and joy of being and living. The mandate is to live and not to let die of poisonous despondency
Probably wake up at dawn. On the cold winter morning embraced by the warmth of the home and caressed by the breezes at daybreak during the hot summer.
The body demands its needs like any neighbor’s son when it gets up. Surely it passes out into the latrine (Mk. 7, 19) and then a body bath (Jn. 13, 10). Followed by a moment of intimate prayer with God, father and foundation. Discuss the day and the vital mission. The ‘worker of time’ offers his journey and listens carefully to the ‘errands of his boss’ for the period during which the Earth completes a rotation around its axis.
Once the soul is nourished and the spirit satiated, the body asks for food. Once again, the body sets the tone for the routine. Raise it, dominate it and feed it. That morning period is permeated with family relationships. Father and mother share those minutes of nocturnal luminous serenity with their son. Perhaps with silences and looks, perhaps with sweet and peaceful words, perhaps with a review of the chores of the workshop and the news of the town and the affections: a birthday, a death, a marriage.
Seeing the immensity disguised as everyday interact is one of the most beautiful paradoxes that the divinity works.
An affectionate greeting before leaving across the threshold of home. Leave for a moment that comfort, love and security. The “worker of time” will remember with nostalgia many years later having nowhere to rest his head (Mt. 8, 20). The journey from home to synagogue has its rites. Perhaps some early dog comes out with clumsy tail movements to meet that good and fair, cheerful and hardworking young man. Perhaps he gets a nice subtle bray from the voice of a memory-loving donkey neighbor.
The muddy and rocky land receives the footsteps of that entrepreneur who walks towards his work because the laborer deserves his keep. (Mt. 10,10). He possibly carries some coins, some aces, sesterces or duoponds to distribute along the way among the neediest and deposit as alms in the temple.
Once he arrives at the place of worship, he greets his friends and fellow students who are part of his community life. The affectivity assimilated in the home expands among the congregation of the faithful. Surely there are kisses, caresses and hugs, deep and sincere looks among those who seek God having him among them.
Another gesture of the universal humor of the divinity: the almighty hidden among the pupils of a village priest. The fineness of the heavenly occurrence is so incredible that we should give standing ovation to the Trinity.
Surely, they spend several hours a day between games, learning and rest. Meeting Amos, approaching Habakkuk, talking about Ruth, being surprised by Jonah and Daniel. The appearance of Moses, the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and the Covenant at Sinai, events etched forever in the memory of Israel, the very foundation of faith. The exodus of the people to a distant country, sands he had already stepped on for many years on his childhood. Hebrew people history of salvation was not theoretical in his case, it was part of his life.
Lunch at home with family or at a friend’s house. Bless the food and give thanks, remembering the manna given. Greet acquaintances, help those in need, listen. The day passes like an infinitive verb, epitome of an eternal present of action.
There is a short nap because the body is subjected to an unusual intensity. No human body bears the weight of humanity on its shoulders. He who is perfection lives in a defective organism, even incomplete. What is missing? Something.
To work on the trade until nightfall. Preparing things for the workshop, visiting a client, designing a new furniture prototype, greeting a passing neighbor, receiving a glass of water from his mother, sharing a chat with his father. The working day is an essential part of life. The act defines it, shapes it and gives it meaning. The objective is not the need to have but to see the result of the paid effort.
Due to the passion, commitment and thoroughness of the result, the demand is high, and the prices are necessarily fair. There is no lack of work, there is sufficient money to live. There is no hunger for food, there is longing for souls. And these arrive by miracles but stay by familiarity.
The word publicity, the facts and the novelties are necessary to attract the attention of the drowsy multitudes, ‘chained’ to their routines, overwhelmed by the apparent silence of the divinity. Pessimism reigns in the fullness of time and continues to rule today. Hopelessness is a cloud that hides daily miracles. It is necessary to see today with new eyes, just as the Son of God does it by living hidden among us 90% of his life.
It is the current process that we must love, no matter what the outcome is. The archetypal day teaches us that the virtue of being present and moving will inevitably be successful, but with a different prize than the world offers.
Save and organize things. Leave the workshop clean, neat and prepared for the next day, even though it may never come. Family dinner. Give thanks and pray again. End the day hoping to start over again tomorrow.
