Temporary Constant
In life with constant change, what are we rooted upon?
Many of us have a routine of sorts. It may be a 9-to-5 job, physical exercise at a certain time of the week, brushing teeth in the morning, or the necessary morning coffee. It is a specific time when we are at a specific place or engage in a specific activity. It is, what I call a “regular space”, where we visit at somewhat consistent intervals. Even some who dislike keeping to a schedule, have some form of life pattern, perhaps Netflix every night. These routines make a lifestyle that we may enjoy or detest. It is familiar and it keeps a momentum going. It gives some certainty. It feels steady and secure. It becomes, for us, a constant. And so, we keep returning to it.
But looking back upon our lives, how long have these routines persisted? Have they really been constant throughout our lives?
Common to most of us is our schooling days. It was a routine to spend the bulk of our daylight hours in school for a large part of our lives. But when we have finished our formal education, this routine disappears and we transition into a different routine. Depending on the type of job we engage in, it takes on a routine that the job requires. We may also engage in other commitments, like a relationship, a hobby, or social activities that have some form of regular engagement. This season, and their routines, go on for some time. Yet, they are set to evolve. Our jobs evolve, and we may change employment. New relationships develop, and old relationships either deepen or dissipate. Hobbies and social activities also follow their own trajectories. It seems that anything we deemed as a routine was never constant.
All these routines in life are what I call “temporary constants”.
Some of us transition from one “temporary constant” to the next fairly smoothly. Some of us do not. It may be distressing to have what we have made an anchor dislodged, moved, or changed. The reality is society, technology, and life changes through time. Knowing that these constantly evolve, do we still choose to root ourselves on these “temporary constants”?
Three years of COVID-19 have shown me how transient these life routines are such that they can never be a reliable anchor for my life to revolve around. During this period, I changed employment several times, took a sabbatical for a few months, and traveled to a few countries. New friends were made while some old friendships faded away. New hobbies and interests were developed. Even the church building which I regularly visited for a source of comfort, strength, and peace was, for a good period, closed. Any routine I had only lasted, at most, a couple of months. I learned that anything tangible is also transient. Rooting myself on anything transient is unstable and unnerving. There can be no stability in such foundations, no peace in its pursuit.
What remained constant throughout was the presence of God and the sense of hope. And so, what becomes a reliable anchor is faith in God. Only God is constant through all these changes. Only in the pursuit of growing in faith and love is a sense of inner peace.
Strangely, this pursuit and the presence of God are expressed in tangible ways. It could be attending spiritual formation for a set duration. Or time set aside for specific prayers, meditation, or reflection. Or recreation, like taking walks, drawing, or music. Basically, activities where we come in touch with ourselves and with God. However, the moment we engage in these tangible ways for the sake of doing them instead of a means to root ourselves in Christ, it is set to change again. Perhaps, shaking things up is God’s way of prompting us to look toward Him and not the tangible expressions.
Easter this year will be a significant one for me. I will end my sabbatical and start a new job full-time. The “temporary routines” I had with the freedom of time will come to an end and I will adopt new routines. Nevertheless, may all routines be directed towards rooting myself in Faith, anchoring in Truth, and awareness of God and self.
Blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh, with Yahweh to rely on. Such a person is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it has nothing to fear, its foliage stays green; untroubled in a year of drought, it never stops bearing fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7–8, NJB)
