On this ordinary Tuesday as I glanced through Facebook, this phrase stopped me, saturated with the sacred.
My thoughts went back to last September as my sisters and I gathered around Mom’s bed. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, our hands holding hers. We prayed, we sang, we told stories, we whispered scriptures into her still-hearing ears. It was a holy moment. We were saturated with the sacred.
Then my mind traveled back farther to the summer of 2015. Our precious grandson spent 12 weeks in four different hospitals. As I spent time walking the halls with him cuddled in the front pack, or many nights feeding him a bottle and rocking him to sleep before falling asleep myself on the hospital cot, God’s presence was very real.
Those were holy moments, saturated with the sacred.
But what about today on this very ordinary Tuesday? I’ll go to the dentist; buy yarn for a new project; walk the dog; and squeeze in some laundry and computer time. Is today saturated with the sacred?
YES it is! The question becomes, am I aware? Am I experiencing the sacredness of today?
Oswald Chambers puts it this way in My Utmost for His Highest,
“It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God–but we do not.
We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life,
and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people–
and this is not learned in five minutes.”
In Exodus 3, Moses is having a conversation with the Lord. Part of God’s words to him are, “… the place of which you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5. The notes in my ESV Bible help me understand. “The instructions to Moses are followed by a reason that emphasizes the place where he is standing. The very ordinariness of the location helps make the point that it is holy ground, not because of any special properties of the place but only because of God’s presence.”
Today is an ordinary day for me. And the place where I am standing is holy too. God has promised his presence to me as well. It is saturated with the sacred.
“… I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
“… I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
And so I prayed: Father, today, I thank you for your presence with me. I thank you for your love and trusting me with your purposes. I thank you that all of today is saturated with the sacred, that I am standing on holy ground. God, I so want to live that reality on this ordinary Tuesday. Amen.
“Nowhere” is not the conjunction of no and where but,
rather, the conjunction of Now and Here, which is actually
Everywhere and is the only spot that we can truly experience God.”
Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning
What a rich thought . . .saturated with sacred. Yes! Your encouragement echoes the words of Sara Hagerty in Unseen, an excellent book I’m reading & savoring.
Thank you Deb …
Almost every time you write me, I add books to my list! Bless you.
I’m in the midst of getting everything set up to start the Trueface course again this week. It’s exciting (and sometimes a bit overwhelming) at the very positive response I’m receiving.
love, sue
Sue, your email as well as your blog post–and Bill’s–all gave me what I so needed to hear this week! Thank you, friend!
You are welcome.
You know I need to hear my own words as well ~ one of the reasons I write.
So thankful for your friendship.