"More and more, I think the best advice for how to be a Christian navigating this nutty world is this:
Just be normal.
Freighting in some agenda along with one's Christianity -- even an agenda that sounds high and noble -- inevitably distorts Christianity and obscures Christ at least for oneself and probably for others, too.
A long contemplation of what humility and love really mean is deeply needed in this time and place.
Is injustice going to be done to me if I try to follow that path? Almost certainly. But in this world we will have trouble. Christ said that. A lot of our problems stem from trying to make His words not true for ourselves. Surely I ought to be exempted from trouble.
And many problems also come from trying to be of good cheer because *we* will overcome the world, not because Christ has overcome the world, as He said He did.
We do have something to overcome, though, and that is ourselves. That's the path to humility and love, and that's the path to the Kingdom of God.
And the first step on that path is just to be normal -- do your duties to the people in your life, give up your preferences a little more today than yesterday, set aside your resources for those who need them, and participate in the life of the Church."
By Fr. Andrew S. Damick
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