This Could Possibly Be the Best Day Ever?

Note: This post was originally published in the October 27, 2020 edition of our church’s InSpire newsletter

I made my way through our dimly lit house this morning in order to get our oldest son up and ready for virtual school. Before I could get upstairs, I saw something stir on the couch. There he was; fast asleep. At first I tried to gently rouse him but he merely just rolled over and continued to snore. Escalation was necessary. I lovingly rubbed and patted his back. I leaned into his ear and made funny noises. I took his blanket and pillow. Nothing.

Finally, I turned on the music playlist I made for him and his brother. Not too loudly—I’m not a monster—but enough to see if it got a response. The first song on the mix is the theme song to Phineas & Ferb, one of his favorite cartoons. At the first word, he shot up. He later admitted that he thought there was an episode on TV and didn’t want to miss it. We got our day started as the playlist carried on with songs about Perry the Platypus and odes to the Star Wars desert planet Tatooine.

But it was the chorus of that first song that has lingered with me:

This could possibly be the best day ever / and the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better / So make every minute count / Jump up, jump in, and seize the day / And let’s make sure that in every single possible way / Today is going to be a great day

It’s a fantastic song to get your kid’s day started. It is not an anthem for an adult living in 2020. But maybe it should be? I have begrudgingly come to accept that there is much about the world that I cannot change. As much as I wish I could, I can’t make a pandemic disappear or make a sick person well or eradicate systemic racism or make an unkind person become empathetic. There are obviously small steps I can take to help in all of those things and I try to take them, but it can be overwhelming when it all hits at once repeatedly.

So it can be easy to give way to despair or to put on cynicism like armor to protect the world’s attacks. That is merely surrender. Today is not going to be a great day if I do not try to make the best of it. In Romans 12:18, Paul writes to the church “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” As far as it depends on you. There is going to be a whole mess of things that will try to ruin your peace, but you can’t control that. All you can control is your small part.

This could possibly be the best day ever? All this mess is going to be there and we ought to do everything we can to counteract it: wear masks, pray, educate ourselves, act justly, love each other. As far as it depends on you and me and thankfully the God who is with each of us, we can try to make every minute count, jump in, and seize the day. 

There will be obstacles, but great things can happen. It’s why this church stuck it to the pandemic and had a safe hybrid worship service/reverse trunk or treat on Sunday. It’s why Jenny and I are trying to do everything we can to safely gather our youth each week. It’s why I sang to my son this morning that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better. With God, there is beautiful possibility in each sunrise. So let’s make sure that in every single possible way, as far as it depends on us, today is going to be a great day.