MEDIOCRE WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

“I’m at my best in a messy, middle-of-the-road muddle” - Harold Wilson, 2x PM of England. 

In our current American English mediocre is defined simply as “of moderate quality.” Synonyms are ordinary, common, average. A quick google search will tell you that. Our current interpretation when we hear it on a school report or a job review will tell you that. However, Its 16th century Latin root is a little different. It means the middle of a rugged mountainous range.

A few years back my wife and I decided to take the hike of Sabino Canyon up to 7 falls in Tucson, AZ. We got about halfway through and there was a confusing bend on the trail. We took the wrong one up a very steep rocky cacti filled cliff. We got to a point where we had to decide to risk sliding down into a large ravine filled with questionable plants and long green grass - the only fucking grass that long in whole of the desert of southern AZ of course would be here and now - not knowing what lied beneath it, and hoping we wouldn’t break our necks or find a rattlesnake there ready to plunge it’s venomous teeth into our legs. We were literally saying I love you in a manner that meant - I sure as shit hope we make it out of this one. Once we reached the bottom after we gathered ourselves, and realized what we had just done somehow unharmed, we found a number of cooling ponds formed by the snow melting and running down. We dipped in those and then we decided though they were beautiful, we had made it this far, so let’s forge ahead to 7 falls. We did indeed reach 7 falls. So, you may be wondering, how in the hell is this the middle of the rugged mountain? You made it all the way up the pass.

Well, my friends, once you get to these beautiful chilly falls and the 2 large pools they run into, you look up and the mountain pass goes on for what seems like infinity. You see we were not at the mountain top. We were in the oasis which was our destination. That mediocre - middle of the rugged mountain range - was hard fought and won that day. We then made it back to the trailhead within only 2 minutes of missing the shuttle to get us back to our vehicle so we could reach home. We were tired, beaten up a bit, but ultimately so proud and satisfied we had achieved this mediocre feat. We then ate a heroic ton of pizza & beer. I’d call it a communion of sorts.

It was a messy, muddled hike. In that, somehow I managed to find myself at my best. I often think ‘somehow’ is just another word for ‘mystically’. Mystically, I managed to find myself at my best. In my fear I found the mystic exposed itself to me. Often it’s said fear not in religious circles. You have nothing to fear but fear itself in political circles. For me, in that moment, fear made me one with my maker. It made me reflect over my life in that flashing movie people often speak of and it was indeed a mystical moment full of all of those middle of the road messy muddled memories filled with pain and healing, regret and love, sorrow and happiness. Ultimately in the midst of this heart pumping adrenaline filled moment I was filled with a mystical peace. We simply set out to take a mediocre hike and ended up solving that day’s mystery of getting lost and finding our way out.

Like most folx, I don’t often find time for a retreat. When I do it is amazing. But, day to day, how do we find the mystical in the mundane of life? We cannot all be engineers who figure out how to make t-shirts from plastic bottles, however, we can all recycle our plastic bottles. We can purchase those recycled goods to make consumerism more conscientious. And, what would we do without the sanitation workers who make that happen on a large scale in recycling centers? That act of conservation makes the world change as we join in one by one.

This is mediocrity, folx. I’m on a bit of a mission to try and take away the stigma of that word, and embrace the truth that mediocre is what makes the world go ‘round.

So then, how do we tap into the mystical in the midst of our monotony? While your kid or your boss is screaming, your laundry and dishes are piling up, you’re so tired and striving to make ends meet - in the midst of everyday life - how do those of us with a longing of soul, but not so much the luxury of environment - find the divine daily? Hell, what even is the divine?

In the simplest form mystic can be defined as becoming one with god, however you define that. Some synonyms are the absolute or consciousness. Let’s do what we did with mediocre and consider the Latin root from the 17th century for the term mystic. It means to initiate or to close the eyes or lips. I love this. We can do that on the jon y’all! We can initiate a connection opening our hearts to speak as we close our eyes. We can initiate a connection viewing nature out of the window and closing our lips to open our ears and listen. And, there are countless other ways. 15th century monk Brother Lawrence called this practicing the presence of god. He often did this while he was washing dishes for his fellow monks.

There are so many ways to practice the presence of whatever you connect to as god or perhaps simply on your own because you don’t connect to an idea of god. Maybe just get by yourself and engage with the world around you. Often one thing that works in one season doesn’t in another. Just as most plants flourish in one season and lay fallow in others. So, we’re gonna unashamedly cherry pick as many practices as we can with some amazing guests on the podcast, and find out what works best for you and me!