A Case of the Mondays
On a Monday not so long ago, I was putting out a fire on the phone. This was not a literal fire. It was not that simple. It was a work fire, a flash fire, the result of combustible gases and hot air, neither of which is in short supply anywhere humankind occupies space.
As I absorbed the tension from the other end of the line, I thought to myself, “Boy, it feels like I was born on a Monday and never really left.”
A few minutes ago, I Googled the day of my actual birth, because I know there is no point in asking Mom what day it was. She might just say, “It was a day from Hell!”
Just kidding. She would never say that. Not about me. Now, my kid brother…
Anyway, I did not debut on a Monday. It was a Thursday, perhaps the most nondescript, boring day in the week. Think about it. Sunday is the Lord’s Day… and football. Saturday is the weekend… and football. Friday is the end of the workweek and the beginning of the weekend… oh, and high school football. Monday is Monday! Make no mistake, Monday is seldom boring or nondescript. More descriptors have been used on Monday than all the other days combined. Tuesday is not Monday. Everyone feels good about that. Wednesday is hump day. Halfway there! But Thursday? It is just there, hanging out, getting in the way of Friday and the weekend. If there is a Monday, Jr., it has to be Thursday.
I was not born on Monday, but I have, on more than one occasion, had “a case of the Mondays.”
Just for fun, I looked up that phrase in the…
“A phrase used to describe someone that has a bad mood when he or she comes to work or school on Mondays.
OR
A phrase that someone uses if he or she wants to get their ass kicked by their fellow co-workers or school mates.”
The Case for Monday
Monday gets a bad rap because it is “back to work” or “back to school” day. I think we should think of Monday in a more positive light, so here is my case for making Monday great again – or, maybe, for the first time ever.
- Monday is a fresh start. Time is one of God’s best gifts to us. Imagine an existence where there was no way to mark one day or one year or one moment from another. Imagine never being able to put an unpleasant experience behind you. Imagine no excitement of looking forward to that first date… or Disneyland… or Christmas. Imagine a world where 2020 could not be put out of its misery and a new year welcomed with hope! This is Monday. While it is not the first day of the week, it is the day we get moving again, the day we wake with a new opportunity to do better, accomplish more, dream bigger. You may have been pulverized last week, but this is Monday! This is your shot at something better.
- Monday may bring your defining challenge. The unchallenged are never uncommon. Who is Jonas Salk without Polio, and where are we without Salk and his vaccine? Who is Winston Churchill without Adolf Hitler, and where are we without the iron will and steadfast leadership of Churchill? Does Helen Keller forever impact the world if she is not blind? Would you take away the Cross from Jesus and deny Him the opportunity to conquer death and Hell? If Monday represents adversity, bring it on! Adversity is where opportunity hides. Those who sift through the adversity to seize the opportunity make Monday matter… and they make it great.
- Monday is seldom mundane. Whether your week starts with a hurricane or a hiccup, it seldom begins with a yawn. Emails are flying. Phones are ringing. Voices are raised (and, hopefully, so are standards). No lying on the couch, surfing channels and finding “nothing to watch.” No sitting in the driveway unable to decide what you want for dinner. Monday is rush hour traffic and Zoom calls. Monday is red-eye flights and Ubers. Monday is skyscrapers and scraping gum off your shoe on 42nd Street. Monday is out of the house and into the madhouse. Monday is manic, frantic, and panic. Monday is seldom mundane.
- Monday means you made it. Remember last Monday? Remember when you were ready to push all your chips to the center of the table and cash out? Remember how you wondered how you would ever make it through? And here it is, Monday! You made it to a new beginning, a fresh start, the first day of the rest of your week… and of your life.
You got a case of the Mondays?
I got a case for the Mondays –
And, no, it is not a case of beer,
But of hope and good cheer
And putting it in another gear
To fight through the unknown, the dread, and the fear
Because you can’t get “there”
Until you’ve passed through here.
So, Cheers!