Looking Beneath, Looking Beyond
For the most part, we live life on the surface of things and, to a certain degree, it’s how we are wired. This is how we navigate through life. We make a home, eat our meals, go to sleep, go to work, watch TV, answer emails, go for walks, drive the kids to soccer practice without giving it much thought. We operate on auto pilot to perform these daily functions. Yet, the most ordinary movement through life can leave us hungry for something more, something we can sink our teeth into, to enjoy and savor more deeply, something we can point to as the greater meaning to it all.
Just as a single tree exists and we enjoy the shade, the fruit, the beauty that we can see, beneath is an entire network nurturing, strengthening, growing, grounding that tree. The same is true for us as we see and experience all that life offers us each day. Yet beneath the most mundane routines, something deeper is occurring, and if I take a few minutes to consider, I recognize God present, endowing the moments with Divine possibility. And so, I look again, look beyond, look beneath, look above, and look inward for the holy ground, the burning bush, the sacred text written into the common condition of my life.
Our spiritual ancestors give us examples of this kind of mindful looking in the midst of the ordinary. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century kitchen worker who served a group of Carmelite monks and whose teachings were compiled in The Practice of the Presence of God, experienced God present in the midst of his work. “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees in the blessed sacrament.”
This is not to say that every moment has to hold a deep meaning. I need not overanalyze my existence. But an intentional “practice of the presence of God” allows me to sift out the day, to recognize that I am held, guided, embraced by a gentle grace, that leads me into simple gratitude for my current state of being, whatever that may look like.
For Spiritual Direction: Where do you notice God present in your life? Where do you struggle to recognize the Divine in you daily experiences? What practice might help you to look beyond, look beneath, look above, and look inward at what is going on at a deeper level? Could a daily or weekly reflective journaling practice help? Perhaps a silent centering prayer, or a walk at the end of the day to release and receive the holy invitations found in the ordinary moments of life?
