Sacred Mundane: The Blog

I remember reading about a missionary who devoted his life to a certain people group in Africa.  He was only one of many missionaries to this group, but he soon became their favorite and they were receptive to his message.  Why?  The natives said, “We know that man really loves us because he plays with us.”  He played with them.  Apparently he took the time not only to preach to them, to read to them, even to serve them through building and repairing, but he took the time to simple play with them, engaging in their recreational fun.

I got spoiled all Fall because it hardly rained a drop.  There were probably only two days all Fall where Dutch and I didn’t get to take our long morning walk to the park.  Those walks are my salvation–exercise, fresh air, and a break from reading Curious George and playing trucks.  I get some quiet time to think, then Dutch gets time to run around and let off steam.  December brought two weeks of being  completely snowed in, then one week of me being sick, now another week of Dutch being sick.  We’re close to a month without our daily walks!  And I admit it’s starting to wear on me.  The days can drag on when you’re confined to a small house with a two-year-old who wants YOU to read aloud, wants YOU to get on the floor and make the truck noises, wants YOU to build the fort and get inside.  I wish I could tell you that my favorite thing in the world is playing with plastic tractors and reading Richard Scarry, but it’s not. Way too often I would rather be doing something…well, productive.  Meaningful.

But today as I was lying on the floor playing trucks, I thought about the missionary’s life, and how the key to the gospel going forth in that tribe in Africa was the fact that he played with them.  He layed aside his agenda in order to show them his love in their language.  And I’m praying that God will help me remember that I earn Dutch’s ear by the years I spend on the floor, making truck noises.  The years I spend on the couch, reading Curious George.  I pray for the grace and patience to simply play with people, to join them in what they love to do. I pray that God would help me see the sacredness of playing.

AW Tozer, my favorite extra-biblical author, penned the jewel chapter entitled “The Sacrament of Living” in his gold-mine book, The Pursuit of God, a humble 120 pages written on a single train ride.  In this chapter he exposes this lie that we have been discussing, the Sacred/Secular Illusion.  We tend to believe that life is composed of two compartments, the sacred and the secular.  Those who work outside the church are said to have “secular jobs”.  My alma mater would be considered a “secular university”.  We categorize things like prayer, going to church, singing worship songs, and reading our Bibles as Sacred activities, of which we know God is pleased. And yet if we are honest with ourselves, these activities take up a small portion of our lives.  The overwhelming majority of our time is spent working, sleeping, eating, driving, grooming, entertaining, etc.  Even today, on a Sunday, as a pastor’s wife (a supposedly sacred vocation), I spent probably one hour tops in prayer and Bible reading and 1.5 hours at church.  The rest of my day has consisted of showering and getting presentable, making breakfast, feeding, changing, and dressing Dutch, driving to and from church, getting gas, buying bananas at the store, making lunch, eating lunch, reading aloud the entire Treasury of Curious George from cover to cover (192 pages complete with voice impersonations and onomonopia!), putting Dutch down for a nap, paying bills, cleaning the kitchen, putting chicken in the crockpot for dinner…you get the idea.  Of the nine hours I’ve spent awake, only 2.5 of those have been spent doing so-called sacred activities. 

You see my point, and perhaps I’ve belabored it.  We live in the mundane, and to believe that mundane equals secular is to believe that 90% of our life is outside the living, active presence of God.  It’s to believe that most of our life, really, doesn’t matter. 

As we continue to explore this topic, we will see, from Scripture and from the general revelation of God in this world, that all of life is Sacred.  That the mundane is sacred.  That there is a reality more real that that which we see, and that by the grace of God, we can live with spiritual eyes and ears, focused intently, aware of the presence of God in the details of life.  And perhaps we can increase, by minute degrees each day, the portion of our lives that is actively involved in the most thrilling pursuit of life–the pursuit of our great and glorious God. 

What do I mean by the Sacredness of the Mundane?  The sacredness of the mundane is the call to live a life in which every single facet is supernaturally infused with eternal significance.  As William Paul Young writes, “If anything matters, everything matters.”  It is living with a real, conscious awareness that every breath of our life is important, indeed eternally important.  While we might agree with this on a cerebral level, it is quite another matter to live this way.  Why? Because the mundane rules our lives, and the Evil One has managed to successfully deceive us into thinking that mundane matters are separate from our spiritual life. 

I believe this is the most subtle and dangerous lie we are tempted to believe.  We are daily tempted, subconsiously, to believe it doesn’t really matter, and to live the majority of our lives–the mundane–in one manner, while attempting to progress in our Christian life through other means.  In the words of Paul David Tripp, “If God doesn’t rule your mundane, He doesn’t rule your life.  Because the mundane is where you live.” 

I say that life is infused with eternal significance because we are not the ones who give our life significance.  Material objects and a vast majority of actions and decisions have no moral value.  It is the altar which sanctifies the gift.  Sacred living is nothing more than living a life which is consecrated, or set apart, wholly to Him who alone is Sacred: The Triune God.  A life which has been given over to God (i.e. born again) has been consecrated to Christ and is therefore sacred and holy.  It isn’t a matter of feeling, but rather a matter of fact.  When we consciously decide to embrace sacred living, we are merely acknowledging and embracing what already is.  We are acting in the appropriate manner.  And nothing, absolutely nothing, is more satisfying and rewarding than doing that which you were created to do.   Mundane takes on immeasurable value and limitless potential.  Trials are transformed from obstacles to opportunities.  Life teems with meaning. 

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And because life teems with meaning, I am going to leave these thoughts for now and go iron my husband’s shirts.  Because that is pleasing to God and to Jeff. It matters.

So I’ve not yet risen from the ashes of sickness–I’m writing this while lying in bed.  But I couldn’t let too much of 2009 get underway without posting some resolutions.  I like knowing where I’m going, and even though I’m not the one in control, I like being purposeful about the course of my life.  So what about you? Where are you going?

It’s always fun to look at last year’s resolutions (posted here) and while I’d like to say I had 100% success, I didn’t.  But, one significant praise from 2008 is that I CAN see how God graciously allowed me to love more. He challenged me, showed me areas of weakness, and pushed me past some limits.  I’ve so far to go, but I’m not what I once was!  Probably my biggest praise, however, is from 2008 goal to not worry about money.  This was a big one. And what a perfect year to make that a goal, seeing the economic state of our nation!  This is where I saw God work in leaps and bounds in my life.  2008 brought Jeff and me through by far our leanest times, and also by His grace we ended 2008 in probably our most abundant times. And God was so good through it all!!

So if 2008’s banner resolution was the Love More, my 2009 banner Resolution is to Give Thanks Always.  My hope and prayer for 2009 is that my life would be characterized by a firm resolve to give thanks always.  A thankful heart is a humble heart, a thankful heart is a joyful heart.

My husband always says, ungrateful people do not get the gospel. They don’t understand it.  Because if we truly understood the gospel, we would never be ungrateful.  If we truly comprehended the amazing grace, mercy, love, abundance that has been poured out to us in Christ, we would never cease to give thanks to our God, in every single circumstance.  My heart’s greatest desire is that I would be a woman of thanks.  That praise and thanksgiving would flow from my heart.  So that is my prayer for 2009, that thankfulness would characterize my life.

A few other nuts and bolts which pertain to the mundane details of life–the sacredness of the mundane, if you will.  As I recently read, “If God doesn’t rule your mundane, He doesn’t rule your life, because that is where you live.”  Amen!  So, 2009 Goals/Desires…

1. Continue reading through the Bible each year

2. Pray every morning with Jeff before he leaves for work (God help me get out of bed!)

3. Pray & read Bible with Dutch every day (even if just 30 seconds of prayer and one Bible story!)

4. Read 25 books

5. Write a rough draft of The Sacredness of the Mundane.

6. Take kids walking every day that it’s not raining, and get back to pre-pregnancy weight!

7. Graduate with MA from Multnomah!

And a desire (not necessarily in my control): Buy a home in West Linn near our church.

Admittedly #5 is the real beast.  I’ve never written a book.  And I’m attempting it while having two kids in diapers. But hey, you gotta aim for something, right?

So there you have it. Pretty basic stuff.  That’s where I’m headed, I think. How about you? Where are you going?