“6 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.” (2 Cor 6:1-13 ESV)

It’s very holy to realize that times are not by and large normal. Pedal to the metal, nonetheless, we can say, at least I gave it my all. That is, like the insane rout of activity upon a strange or shocking event, at least we gave it our all. That is, again, that good works do germinate without any intention or plan of our own: we work, we act, we Do. And Christ’s shocking diatribes, His observations of a radically compromised public religion, these rocketed His hearers into that pedal to the metal shock-factor, day after Resurrection-factor Action. We act. We do, and we Become the agents of a brighter tomorrow.

At least, giving it our all, comes with it that enervating or enlightening Fact: Christ gave it His all, and we are not required, in the final issue, to do Anything by way of earning our salvation. So we can observe the economic fact (these being strange times economically) that society thrives when people Act, when they Work, when they Give and Invest their hard-earned time into the affair. Yet precisely by removing this “Obvious” pressure point, somehow a Higher Mentalism and Action-Base is obtained. Somehow we see people go Ghost, go Lightspeed, go Radically stating “I did nothing, Christ did it all”. Even as, He-Man-like, they carry the community. Even as, soldier-like, they secure the border. Even as, agent-like, they manage what is taught and what ideas are allowed to flourish.

All ideas, mankind has a way of bursting forth on such a day as this, a day when we give thanks for that hearty Enlivening of work ethic and of Contribution. We were echoing old ghosts: I wish I had a smoke, everyone around me smokes… We were echoing old trauma: I can’t take such responsibility upon myself, I must mope and mumble discouraging words… We were rhyming old curses: they probably hate me…

Therefore to normalize the strange times is first to Acknowledge that No One should be fine and normal in these trying times. It is to put a name to the weird way we take our sweet time about the coming War of spirit: we distract and we wander, forgetting there is harsh Confrontation to encounter. And an enemy is themselves distracted and discursive, so as not yet to attack… but attack they will, when somehow the two combatants both agree to do some Normalcy Checking. To realize the weird peace-keeping jaunt they are on, and be Informed, Learn, Laugh at oneselves a bit, perhaps. It was, after all, all mankind to whom Christ was sent and even though the apostles had no-go zones, Christ ultimately was a blessing—like Abraham—for all people.

To normalize the strange times is to have that personal Outlet called Acknowledgement: yes, you aren’t crazy to think it all a bit farcical. But… at least you gave it your all, right? At least, too, upon envisioning giving it your all, you rightly warmed to the idea: Christ gave His all, so we can be carried along on wings and a prayer. We can both cope with the abnormal Society, and contribute by our Faith if not always by our deeds. We Believe such deeds come about when all society is, contrary to what makes sense, given a breather, given a Sabbath, reminded the Ultimate Actions are already set in stone and ours to clamor after, to claim and to grow into.