Momma Told Me There’d Be Days Like This…

… momma just didn’t say they’d last months on end.

Well, St. John of the Cross and Mother Teresa may have said something or another about but I wasn’t paying attention. Typical. Truth is, more days than not I feel like this. The other days of the year are devoting to putting on appearances.

Which is why it irritates me to no end whenever I see a certain billboard on my morning commute advertising a local church. It shows a woman dancing in a field of wild flowers. Very Sound of Music-ish. The caption reads “He is a God of unending joy!”.

If I was in charge of this church’s ad campaign the woman would be holding an armful of kittens under a rainbow in a gumdrop rainstorm. Oh, and she’d be sitting atop a pony. I mean the point is sentimentality right? Jesus makes us feel good.

I bet that’s why so many people hate Christians. Not because we can at times radiate joy; but sometimes, just sometimes, we are caught having a grumpy day and swearing under our breath. To a rational observer it’s a normal person having a bad day. To someone already leery of Christians it’s proof in the pudding we are a lot of hypocrites. A lot they become convinced they want nothing to do with.

I also suspect this ridiculously saccharine message of fluffy Christianity is what makes people doubt their faith or ultimately leave it all together. I mean if being a Christian is all sunshine and kittens and we are still having bad days then naturally we must have picked the wrong religion to follow. Or religion is wrong period. God didn’t deliver as promised, why else would I still worry and fret about all Negative Nilly and have all these miserable dark doubting days?

Converts are highly susceptible to these disenchanted phases, myself included. But, I suppose this the natural ebb and flow of our spiritual life. Last time I checked no one said being a Christian was easy. Just ask the martyrs.

But that doesn’t sound as catchy in an advertisement.

It’s Friday, I should be in a better mood. Or maybe I am in the perfect mood.