Wednesday Wonder – January 22, 2025

I am, in some ways, grossly unremarkable…

Let me explain. ‘Grossly unremarkable’ shows up on medical test results to indicate that things are normal. You can also be just ‘unremarkable’ as well. I have had such results on my most recent tests and had to speak to one of my oncologists about the terms. No one likes to be unremarkable, let alone grossly unremarkable!

That word, unremarkable, is one that many of us take great exception with when it is applied to us or our loved ones. I dare you to tell me my grandson is unremarkable. I wouldn’t recommend it. We wouldn’t think to tell grandparents such a thing. Every child is remarkable in their own way.

I have spent much of my life striving to be remarkable. Yes, the sin of pride can get a little mixed in with that. I just spent last Sunday telling you that miracles could be found in the ordinary. But I was always told I was not ordinary, I should strive to be more than that. Confusing when you are younger, at least it was to me. If miracles could be found in the ordinary then why would it matter if I was ordinary too? Wouldn’t that make me a possible miracle?

I think we spend a fair amount of energy trying to find ways that we might be considered remarkable and not ordinary. We look for ways to stand out. We are encouraged to use our gifts and talents, to improve those gifts and talents, so that they are something special. Hearing someone say, “That was remarkable,” is a real compliment.

Striving to be remarkable is exhausting. Pushing ourselves to always move beyond where we are can be a bit much. Yes, I need to practice the piano and guitar if I want to be able to play better, but do I have to do those things as well as I do other things? I could always coach my skating students to get better results than I personally got. They could jump higher and better, do more difficult jumps and spins, than me. I could teach them how, even when I couldn’t do them. Wasn’t that just as remarkable as being able to do all those things myself? Maybe not. But it made me, and many of those students, quite happy.

These days, we see people on social media all trying to be seen as somehow remarkable. They all want to be considered special, or better than others, or what have you. They do it for the likes and responses that assure them they are somehow special. Being themselves doesn’t seem to be enough.

The constant striving to be remarkable doesn’t leave a lot of time to just ‘be’. God loves us just as we are. Does God want us to be all we can be? Certainly. God wants only the best for us. God does not ever want us to feel less than. Grossly unremarkable may be a good thing when you see it in your medical test results, but if you overheard someone say it about you in general that would really hurt. To God, we can never be grossly unremarkable. To God, we are always remarkable, just as we are. God wants us to be us, well, just us. Being ourselves. God loves us as we are. We are enough.

Striving to always be seen as remarkable leaves us feeling less than enough at times. Let me remind you: You are enough. You are remarkable just for being you. And when you let your light shine, others get to bask in how remarkable you are simply because  you are a child of God.

So, I will let my oncologists tell me things are grossly unremarkable because it means I am doing well in my recovery and there is nothing we have to worry about at this point. But I will accept being called remarkable too. Because every child of God is remarkable in their own way. Well, maybe my grandson is exceptionally remarkable. At least he is to me.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane