Maycember
Maycember. That’s what we started calling it in our home. I’m pretty sure I first saw that title somewhere online. I’m not sure who to give credit for that description but it feels accurate. This season leading up to summer has all the busyness of December but without the cookies and presents to entice you along the way. As a father with three kids in school, the last month has been filled with numerous end of year programs, recitals, field days, award ceremonies, “graduations,” and class parties/field trips. We see this onslaught of activities in the rhythm of our church calendar as well. We have two different Sundays allocated to graduating seniors from high school and college, sandwiched between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. All of these events occurring while registrations and packing lists for summer camps come flying your way. It’s Maycember!!!!!
The calendar becomes an essential part of everyday reading material. The spiritual gift of “planning” is the only way to survive all that Maycember will bring. And yet, as I reflect upon my own experiences with this season, listen to other families try to manage the same load, and observe the ways our culture talks about all that we have to “do” and “plan,” I can’t help but wonder if we’ve lost our way. It’s hard not to see Maycember as just one more expression of our culture’s obsession with being busy. It’s hard to imagine our society creating the space and time for any of us to have an empty calendar.
Think about that for a moment. What does it say about us that our calendars have to be so full? What does it suggest that our lives have to be so planned out? I want to invite you into a brief thought experiment. Consider all that you have planned for the next three to four weeks. If you have a calendar (digital or print), take a moment and look at it. See all that you have planned as you head into summer. Review the list of things you have planned each day over the next several weeks. Then I want you to imagine your calendar being completely wiped clean. Imagine it empty. Imagine nothing on your list. I’m curious how such a thought experiment makes you feel. Does it create a sense of relief or panic? Are you longing for nothing to do or are you lost without a schedule? Either reaction reveals some sort of attachment to being able to plan, to being busy … to being in control.
Whether we realize it or not, the frantic pace of our lives often reveals the insatiable desire for control. To have some illusion that we can dictate every moment and every detail. Or at a minimum, if we strive for such control we can limit any bad things from happening to us. And to a certain extent, there’s some truth there. But one way or another, life has its way of reminding us we are not in control. It could be something as simple as the weather that forces a field day to be rained out or something as profound as a terminal diagnosis to our physical health. One way or another, amid all the planning, life reminds us we aren’t in control. Imagining an empty calendar, is in some ways, an opportunity to imagine a life that embraces that loss of control rather than resisting it. Imagining a life without so many plans and schedules helps our hearts turn towards trust and surrender rather than busyness and control. I can’t help but think that as Maycember draws to a close and summer kicks off with a roar, that it would be helpful for all of us to create a greater awareness that our constant planning fosters a spirit of control, and what we really need is surrender.
So, as you head into summer, let me remind you of the fundamental point of our recent series. God has a plan. Let me say that again. God has a plan. Whether our calendar is filled or empty, He has a plan. That plan does not center around you, or me or anyone else. It is centered on Jesus Christ. It is not a plan based on performance or accolades or accomplishments, it is a plan of grace and mercy. Regardless of what is on your calendar, take a moment today to stop, breathe and give praise to the One who is truly in control.