“The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.”
― Hannah Arendt
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963)
This was concerning a trial after World War 2 of a German officer involved with the killing of innocent people by government order. He wasn't a monster or a scary personality, just a normal man. This idea was stated as the "banality of evil", the fact that the most evil actions in recent history were done by such ordinary people is shocking. Whole populations and political powers were swept up in incremental actions that created something so terrible. The people when seen up close seemed normal.
In the wake of the "Do hard things", the pendulum may be tempted to swing back to the other side of whatever the opposite of doing hard things would be, but I think that after seeing the affect of normalcy there is something to be said for being ordinary.
The idea of faithfulness, which is a fruit of the Spirit, becomes much more pivotal in determining the future. Faithfulness is becoming more rare these days, just look at the success of marriage rates in America. The future opportunity, though, relies on faithfulness in the present. I think it goes without saying the better environment for the family is if the parents are faithful in keeping their promise to the significant other. There are studies that confirm that children thrive better in homes that have both parents present to raise them.
The difficult part of faithfulness is if you have to carry the burden of another, especially if the burden is the sin of the other against you. The example we have though is Christ who bore all of our burdens of sin upon himself. As a result of Christ choosing this, it is now given a pricelessness. Therefore to participate in something great may be the daily faithfulness of bearing another's burden or just being loyal. A banality of good. This is something hard, but not spectacular. Rather unoriginal and probably to be unrecognized, but if the banality of evil could produce the atrocities of some of the most evil things the earth has seen, perhaps the daily regime of following Christ that is a little boring drives the world in the direction of redemption.
The Holy Spirit may be working in the daily activities of those faithfully working the same job for years. An example that stood out to me was a friend from our church talked about how his job was good, but it seems boring in comparison to the lives others lead. The important part of the perceived mundaneness of his job is that he has been faithful for 12 years. Because of his faithfulness he not only provides for his family, but the overflow of his work blesses others. My family has been blessed by his faithfulness. If he couldn't be faithful to his job, if he wanted to do only big or exciting things, perhaps he would find himself unemployed over the past years. Without being faithful he wouldn't be able to provide as well for his family, which would result in less that could overflow in the lives of others.
I am thankful to the many people who are faithful in the ordinary times that contribute to a vast network of different people and activities that go unnoticed. They may be unnoticed, but they are not without effect. There are many who support us here in the work we are doing, thank you for your support. Thank you for your faithfulness for the past three years.
Yes, we have hit our third year here on October 30th. With out your help our work here couldn't be done.
