Finding the Sacred in the Mundane

Too often, we think that to connect with the spiritual dimension we need to withdraw from our daily routines and go somewhere else to meditate or pray. Yet, I believe that the sacred dimension is woven into the fabric of daily life. I'd like to share a few quotes that echo this belief in everyday spirituality.

"We want life to have meaning, and want to be fulfilled, and it is hard to accept that we find these things by starting where we are, not where we would like to be. Our greatest spiritual blessings are likely to reveal themselves not in exotic settings but in every day tasks and trials...It is all for the glory of God, and how we preform these often dispiriting duties, from the changing of a baby's diaper to the bathing of an aged parent, reveals the kind of God we worship." - Kathleen Norris

"It is not only prayer that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring...To go to communion worthily gives God great glory, but to take food in thankfulness and temperance gives Him glory too. To lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory, but a man with a dungfork in his hand, a woman with a sloppail, give Him glory, too. He is so great that all things give Him glory if you mean they should." -Gerard Manley Hopkins

"Christ is most abundantly present not during my hours of prayer... but rather in the midst of my daily occupations." - Terese of Lisieux

"We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for the daily gifts...How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?" -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So there you have it from the mouths of spiritual giants. If you can't discover the sacred within your daily life, then you probably won't find it by withdrawing from it. Everything we do, no matter how mundane, holds the possibility for experiencing the sacredness of life.