It was a dark and cloudy morning as I drove home from dropping my daughter off at preschool. I came to an intersection with a right turn yield and a crosswalk, and some high school students were about to cross. I waited for them to amble across, rather than being a jerk and rushing past them. There were a few stragglers, who I waited for as well. The last girl to cross did one of those little runs that communicates, “I see that you’re waiting for me so I’m going to act like I’m running, even though it’s really not much faster than if I was walking.” But I appreciated the effort. As she did her little jog, her phone popped out of her pocket without her noticing. So I pulled up next to her with my window down and yelled, “Excuse me! You dropped your phone!” She looked really confused so I repeated, “You dropped your phone in the crosswalk!” She realized what I was saying, said thank you, and jogged back to get her phone.
I drove off and thought, “I did it! I saved the day!”
Well, that’s what I would have said if I was in any of the TV shows my daughter watches. Whether it’s PJ Masks, Super Kitties, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, or whatever, it’s always the same mantra. Someone has a slight inconvenience, the main characters take a very long time to solve the problem, and then they congratulate themselves on “saving the day!” My husband likes to tease these shows by saying, “Who knew that the day needed saving?”
What these cartoons mean by “save the day” is that they helped someone. It’s not a terrible message, considering the many times they are inconvenienced by helping others. But the self-congratulations make me want to gag after a while.
So what does it mean for us, who are not cartoon characters, to “save the day”?
The other day, on the wall of a coffee shop restroom, I saw a sign that said, “Make today so awesome that yesterday gets jealous!” I mean, I know it is pointless to argue with an innocuous saying on a wall, but I can’t make my day be anything. I begin my day with all of my plans, but they always have a way of (providentially?) falling apart as soon as my feet touch the floor. But this saying also reflects the pressure put on us to make every day better than the previous one. I can’t do it. With the ups and downs of life, it is just a reality that some days will be better than others (“Mama said there’d be days like this …”). And who am I to say that a day is awesome or not? Just because I usually feel less than awesome doesn’t mean that God is asleep at the wheel.
The pressure to “save the day,” or at least not completely screw up the day, can be crushing. The desire to make the most out of each day and accomplish something of value causes me to have very unrealistic expectations and end up feeling disappointed by what I actually get done. I hold onto expectations tightly, but the day rarely shapes up to be what I expect.
But then again, God brings lots of unexpected surprises, such as iPhones in need of rescue from being crushed beneath the wheels of an oversized SUV.
The adult equivalent to the kids shows’ motto to “save the day” is for us to “seize the day.” Both entreat people to use their time wisely, to appreciate the day and make the most of it. Both encourage us to attack the day with vigor and ambition. It is seemingly good advice, to seize the day, but what if I am not productive enough or waste time? How do I even know what is valuable and what is a waste of time? Like the wall art in the café restroom, this puts a lot of pressure on one little day.
The phrase “seize the day” comes from the Latin phrase “carpe diem,” which literally means “pluck [the harvest of] the day.” It comes from the 23 BC poem Odes by Quintus Horatius Flaccus (aka Horace). The fuller quote from the poem tells the reader that “life is short” and that time has “ebbed away.” “Seize the day; trust tomorrow as little as possible.” As much as we might want to seize the day, it more often feels that the day is seizing us.
The word “seize” is a heavy weight around our necks because it means we have to do the hard work to make the day worth living. The words “pluck,” or “harvest” on the other hand, implies something more hopeful. When I harvested grapes at a friend’s vineyard one time, I was reaping the benefits of someone else’s labor (c.f. Jn 4:38). The crops were there for the picking. So to “harvest the day” means to pick the fruit that God has already made grow. Horace’s poem anticipates Jesus’ teaching to not worry about tomorrow, but to deal with today as it comes (Mt 6:34). And we are likewise taught by Jesus to pray for our bread for today, and not tomorrow (Mt. 6:11). When I think of it in these terms, suddenly “carpe diem” becomes less of a motto for overachievers and more of an encouragement to enjoy God’s gifts.
God is the one who makes things grow (aka have life) and he gives us the pleasure of harvesting his gift of life, sharing it with others, and never having to fear that we will lose this gift. Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch (or seize or pluck or harvest) them out of my hand (Jn 10:28).”
Rather than trying to save the day, seeing our lives as a problem we need to solve, perhaps it’s better to savor the day, enjoying the fruit that God has already grown. That might not make for a good superhero TV show, but in real life, it is much more satisfying.
I love this Juliette. Thank you. I remember D. James Kennedy’s call to his small congregation in the 60s when he said, “We can change the world.” In 2009 came a 180 when Tullian told his congregation at the same church, “How can we change the world when we can’t even change ourselves.” It was the beginning of my family’s deep dive into this thing call “grace.” Great article. Thankful for Mockingbird.