In The Everydayness

God does not live in the church sanctuary. He is in the everydayness of our lives if we but open our eyes to the vision and our ears to the song. We must be attuned to Him and be willing to respond.

As I write this it is 4:30 a.m. and I am at my kitchen table. Beside me our greyhound sleeps quietly. God is here. I feel his presence. He wanted me to get up, to take time to be with Him. Quiet time, not filled with the background noise of my too busy life. Many times, maybe on purpose, we squeeze just enough in to squeeze God out. Like automatons we go busily about our business. Then we wonder why we never feel God’s presence or guidance.

In Walker Percy’s novel, The Moviegoer, the protagonist feels trapped in a hopeless, godless modern existence he calls the “everydayness.” He fills his days in New Orleans with a seemingly endless parade of new secretaries and going to the movies where he loses himself in the “reality” of the film. His life has no meaning or purpose so he has to manufacture one. The story is an apt analogy of so many of us. We are so enthralled by the endless everydayness that we fail to find Him. By changing our focus we can see that the everydayness, while overwhelming, is also where we find Him, and He finds us.

In my daughter’s freckles, in her laughter, in her health and healthy appetite I see God’s provision and blessing. In the slow unstoppable decay of an aged grandfather I see His design that each of us is given a finite number of days. We will mourn his passing but celebrate his 90 years. The three slowly drooping yellow roses in a vase here on the table caught the attention of my 4-year-old niece. She pointed out that the flowers are dying. We told her everything and everyone dies, that’s how God made the world. In the face of a friend and fellow traveler I see the longing to know. Despite following very separate paths in life we met and found common ground, common interests. We share a willingness to ask the hard questions. In the love of my wife, the closest I will see to God’s love in this lifetime. She, like He, knows all my faults and still accepts and loves me. We find God and our happiness together in, of all places, the everydayness.