You will seek the Lord your God from there, and you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your being. – Deuteronomy 4:29 (CEB)
These weekly devotions are called “Sights and insights.” It is a title I came up with in my first weeks as pastor at St. Matthew. My goal with the title and these devotions is to focus on recognizing God in everyday life. Most of the time my method for writing them is to think about my previous week. What things have I done? Are there ways that God was present in those ordinary activities? In other words, the goal is for me to think devotionally about daily life, seeing the ordinary as a space where God appears. I generally try to avoid writing about things that happen within a church context, because that is where we generally expect to see God. The goal is to learn to expect to see God everywhere else as well. Some weeks it is easier than others, to be sure. Some weeks I feel like I don’t do anything that is outside of church. Other weeks everything seems so ordinary that there’s nothing much to say about it. Yet the reality is that God is always there, and through practice we can become more attuned to God with us in the wonder of the normal. My hope is always to point out ways that I see God in those normal moments, but also to provide an example that you can apply to your everyday life.
So where do you see God in the everyday? Are there places that you have grown more aware of the divine in, with, and under the typical? Are there specific techniques you use to help you be aware of the daily sublime? What sights and insights about God’s presence have you had lately?
We are about to begin Lent. Lent is a time of returning to spiritual disciplines. At root spiritual disciplines are techniques for becoming more aware of God’s presence and our need for God. Are there ones that you plan for focus on this season? Are there ones that you have found that others might benefit from? Or maybe you have not thought about it much. That’s okay too. Perhaps, though, these next days might then be a good time to notice your life and reflect where God might be within it. In other words, these next weeks might be a good time to take time to absorb the sights of your life and see what insights about God might be found within them?