Another grey day in Rochester and storms along the Atlantic coast can make everyday seem so dull and boring. So let me invite you to pick up your lens and search for that stunning shot and discover God in the everyday-ness of life. A teacher shared that young people sometimes have a difficult time seeing how the sacred relates to their ordinary experience. Holy lies beyond the everyday. The holy, the young say, and some adults, can only be experienced inside a church building but it has little to say to the rest of the week. In my ministry with pilots during 9/11, I learned how these flyers loved their work because it helped them "touch the face of God." So I ask my Sonshine Friends to reflect on an activity that has allowed you to "touch the face of God." I remember hiking in Isle Royale which on your local weather map looks like the eye of a dog in upper Lake Michigan. On the trail, I was searching for moose in the hope of snapping a stunning photo. Instead, I walked by this log that had dandelions swaying in the breeze and got down on my belly to snap this ordinary moment. At times, I prefer to distance myself from technology to an old way of life. It was nice just to feel the morning chill, hear the birds chirp, smell the pine trees, and just look around to see the birds, hear a woodpecker or avoid "moose droppings." The image of these puffy seeds, hugging the ground makes one realize that God’s Presence can be found on many levels.We take lots of things for granted, the song of birds, the falling snow, the meandering scuttle of ants, the chirp of crickets, everything that God created. So often we look for God in the spectacular miracles, but there’s more to life than what appears on the surface–in the midst of the ordinary, natural settings of everyday life. More often we "touch the face of God" in the routine of life, in ordinary things and people, if we but notice. For behind what we see everyday, the people and our experiences, is a Presence, a caring God, a transcendent love. Valentine’s Day is everyday when we look and "touch the face of God" in wiping a tear, sharing a snack, laughing or smiling at our friends who reveal the beauty of God in our everyday boring, dull and resurrected hearts. Roses, stars, snow, sky, clouds, flower, thunder, birds, rocks, pathways, storms, sea, thorns, tree–are all ordinary. All reveal the face of God.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends as we go about our ordinary lives may we take notice of the glorious ways you fill our life with beauty and love. Let us pray that we may discover you in the healing, the forgiving, the kindness, the generosity, the caring that goes on in our everyday boring, dull routine. Pray deeply for those around you. For God’s strength. For God’s love. For God’s Presence. Happy Valentine!
