Sunday evening is a special time of the week virtually unlike any other. It is a time when the family settles in, quietly going about its business with a thought to the upcoming week. Yet, there is still time to relax without plunging into the responsibilities of day-to-day life.
We look forward to what the week might bring, what work might hold or what new adventures school might bring. Those searching for work in this troubled economy have time to take a breath and revitalize a sense of hope that this new week will be the week that changes everything. We look back to the week that was and wonder what might be different over the next seven days. At this time of the year we begin to look to the weeks that lie ahead and formulate plans for the holiday season that is nearly upon us.
Sunday night is a time of preparation as well. We begin to prepare mentally for the week ahead. But for the moment, things are quiet. Sunday night is also a time to make sure the kids have their homework finished. It is a time to straighten up the house so that when the burden that is Monday rolls around, one less chore will remain to cause aggravation.
Sunday night seems to be a night set aside for family. Any visitors we have entertained over the weekend have long since retreated to the comforts of their own homes. Our doors close to the outside world and we feel safe and secure. It is a time when the world seems to slow down a little and we can actually relax for a few minutes.
On a Sunday such as the one that has just passed, we may reflect on our accomplishments over the last couple of days. Bits of paint on our hands may linger reminding us of that paint job we had been meaning to do all summer long but just never found the time to do until this unexpected summer-like November weekend arrived. Christmas lights may now decorate the outside of our house as we took the opportunity to string them up in the warm weather. They will not glow until at least Thanksgiving night, but we feel good for having gotten this chore out of the way without fingers turning blue or ears about to snap due to the cold. Plants that have long needed transplanting now reside in their new homes taking root in fresh soil.
Sunday night is a time for hope. We hope the week goes quickly. We hope the week passes without too much trouble. We hope that the kids do well in school. We hope that Friday gets here fast so we can enjoy another weekend in the warm sunshine even though we are aware that in November warm sunshine isn't exactly plentiful. We hope that the holidays don't come on us too quickly and that this year they don't pass so fast so that it seems that they were hardly here.
Yes, Sunday night is a special time of the week. The world slows down if only for a short while to afford us the opportunity of this kind of introspection that all of us need at one time or another. The bonus of Sunday night is that you don't even have to do anything special to make it that way! It just is. And maybe that is the lesson that is most important about this evening. Sunday night just is as it comes. maybe one of the things that we can hope for in the upcoming week is that we seek to be ourselves and nothing more. For that is the luxury that Sunday evening presents to us. On Sunday evening, we can be ourselves because there are no expectations for this first night of the week. We just settle in and enjoy. That is my wish for you this week, that you settle in and enjoy life for life is far too short and precious to experience in any other way but who you are!
