I look for God when I do the dishes
“I search for the Spirit as I take out the trash. The sacred is revealed in brilliant light only rarely, in the flash of some great insight unexpected, but much more than this the holy is to be discovered in our daily lives, in the moments when we are simply being ourselves. Putting the kids to bed, working in the garden, sitting on the porch in the evening: the beauty of eternity is that it hides in plain sight all around us. We are all prophets of the predictable pattern, witnesses to the wonder of the average day.” Bishop Steven Charleston, Daily post on Facebook
from joanna es campbell
The God of my understanding uses every bit of our lives to call us to God’s love. I remember one morning walk around my block when I took notice of all the trash bins out in front of our houses. I suddenly realized that this walk, many of the spiritual disciplines we practice are to clear our minds, literally taking out the trash so that we can hear God speak to our lives.
Bishop Charleston is reminding us of Brother Lawrence’s experience in Practicing the Presence of God, seeking and seeing God in every aspect of our life. He is telling us we don’t have to live in a monastery to find and live this kind of life. He believes we can see God’s presence more in our daily routine rather than in some St. Paul-like, blinding, falling off your horse, spectacular event. He is also practicing the family systems axiom of trying to stay the less anxious presence in the world around him. He is looking outside and being awed, and reminded by the daily ever-changing beauty of God’s presence in the vastness of Nature and being transformed by what he sees. He is actively looking for Christ in every place and every person he sees. This is the spiritual discipline of living in the present moment.
Joanna joannaseibert.com