Monday, September 15, 2008

Mystery of the Mundane (part 1)


11And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 1Kings 19:11-13

Between keeping ourselves distracted and waiting we miss a lot in life. Waiting for when I grow up. Waiting to get that job. Waiting to find that special person. Waiting to retire . Waiting to that buy new whatever. We live in anticipation of some future fulfillment.

In evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic circles in particular much of life is projected into the future and taken up with just passing time, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for the fire fall. Waiting for the earth quake to shake our lives. Waiting for that revival. Waiting for that miracle. Waiting for the next move of God. We anxiously await the big thing to unfold in our lives, passing time till I die and go to heaven.

Most of the “big moments” in our lives tend to take place in the ordinariness of daily life. God is to be found in the ordinary and mundane. We are often so busy we can’t see the forest for the trees. We miss the miracles unfolding before our eyes. We miss God’s immediate presence in the wonder of the ordinary.

Nick Cave captures this thought so beautifully in these lyrics from his song “Get Ready for Love”
Nothing much really happens
And God rides high in his ordinary sky
Until we find ourselves at our most distracted
And the miracle that was promised
Creeps silently by.

God is present in the now, my life is unfolding now. The miracle is in this present mudane moment.
photo: b culver

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting this Brad. I spent a fair bit of time in my life waiting for "it" to happen before I finally realized that it was happening everyday right before my eyes.

Discovering the richness, meaning and signifigance of the simple and mundane re-energizes a person's relationship with God. I was quite suprised when I discovered this. This is something many of us have lost in our very busy lives...

Matt Fretz,
Brooklin, Ontario