Summer Doldrums: All Good?

Once upon a time folks would know what the "summer doldrums" were. They picked up in July and peaked in August. But that was then.

Now folks think they've got a new world, a new logic, a new ethics, a new understanding. So what was doesn't count. Summer doldrums may exist, but they're not part of the new world.

I could be wrong, of course.

But whether anyone remembers or recognizes summer doldrums, they're here nonetheless. 

Now that doesn't mean that something big could hit during August. You never know. If it does, we'll all know - I think. I think because so many of us have allowed all sorts of stuff in. Our sense are overloaded; our minds are soaking in audio-visual impressions that replace what was once recognized as reason. We're bombarded and thus overwhelmed with stuff that takes our attention and time away from reality. We've bonded with fantasy, emotion, imagination, dreams, aspirations, drama, theater, pop culture nonsense, and...well, we could go on; but let's leave it at that.

So if any of the above strikes a chord, the hope is that we're looking at all this with a "hmmm....Is this how I want to live? Really?

Anyway, back to doldrums, specifically summer doldrums. They overlay normality. They weigh on us, like a blanket of tropical humidity can do when we decide to take a stroll when the dew point pops over 70. The ultimate effect is to skew activity to languor, even at times lazy-hazy as in "The Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer."

So what to do with all this?

Well, ultimately it's up to you. But if it were up to me (and it's not) I'd recommend just laying back and enjoying what's left of summer. It is, after all, approaching it's denouement. (Yeah, I realize it's an exotic word for so many of us - but it should decidedly not be. If it is for you, well, your problem, not mine.)

If you're a summer fan, your banner days are peaking. (Not being a summer fan, I couldn't care less.) So fill your cup with buckets of summer. Have at it!

You might even take in some NFL exhibition games. They, like the summer doldrums, were once part of summer (at least for pro football fans, of which I was once, but no longer, one). In the old days, late July brought pro football, after a hiatus of roughly five months. Yay! Even as we knew our team wasn't going to play as they might during the regular season, we watched anyway. Why? Hmmm...I don't really know. But it was a welcome event nonetheless.

Whether you get summer doldrums or not, they're here. Rather than take too much time ruminating over stock or bond market price action, and whether or not you're a summer fan, just take what God's given us. And that would be summer doldrums.

If God is good - and He is - then summer doldrums must, in some way, shape, or form, be good too.

Right?