beauty in the mundane

 



Events of the last week, not necessarily different as much as just too much, have blessedly held me in that space of pause and reflection seeking some glimmer of hope in ordinary, albeit cloudy, moments. I feel called to “wade in the water” even though that water is troubled. I feel grace.


I have been blessed with some time to be very still, very quiet, and to listen. Not to the cacophonous news feeds, nor to the sounds of screams and weapons, but to the rhythmic lapping of the bay and the awakening precise bird calls. In this silence I hear those still small voices and they offer encouragement even as I am choking tears. 


I took a walk in the October blueness, more crystalline than blurry, and met a falling leaf. I watched its dance to the ground; I felt it echo in my body. It felt liturgical, we were witnesses to something momentous and magical together. Not only I, but also it, was becoming and returning to a Source which transcends injustice and corruption.


So as I continue to meditate on these extraordinary tiny moments and to incorporate and integrate the wonder, the wisdom, the beauty, I came across this prayer by Cole Arthur Riley which I share in hope:


FOR BEAUTY IN THE MUNDANE

      God of every beautiful thing,

Make us people of wonder. Show us how to hold on to nuance and vision when our souls become addicted to pain, to the unlovely. It is far easier to see the gloom and decay; so often it sings a louder song. Attune our hearts to the good still stirring in our midst, not that we should give ourselves to toxic positivity or neglect the pain of the world, but that we would be people capable of existing in the tension. Grant us habits of sacred pause. Let us marvel no just at grand or majestic, but beauty’s name etched into every ordinary moment. Let the mundane swell with a mystery that makes us breathe deeper still. And by this, may we be sustained and kept from despair. AMEN


May it be so…



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