For Grace in the Ordinary*
Holy One who shimmers even in the mundane,
open my eyes with gratitude for your sustenance
in pipes and plumbing,
in wires and electricity,
in cups of tea and food in the fridge,
in piles of dishes and laundry.
When dullness and boredom visit,
bless all the quiet in-between moments,
the sunlight journeying across the floor.
Help me to see how the most ordinary
is also extraordinary,
how grace dwells
among the bills to pay
and messages that await reply.
Let my shower each morning become a baptism
and my breakfast a communion,
consecrating each act of daily life.
Let my gratitude pour out
in a holy and vibrant yes
for everything quotidian,
to see even this moment as magnificent.
Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
I ask for your prayers this week as several of our Wisdom Council members are traveling to Ireland for an in-person gathering! Please pray for the safety of all traveling and for the fruitfulness of this time together. We will be holding all of you in our prayers as well.
This month our featured self-study retreat is Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice (companion retreat to the book).
This is an excerpt from the book:
Mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade says the word “moment” comes from the Latin root momentus, which means to move. We are moved when we touch the eternal and timeless. There is a sense of spaciousness in moments. Art and spiritual practice are how we find this moment of eternity, or even better, how we allow the moment to find us. There are many moments waiting for us each day, prodding at our consciousness, inviting us to abandon our carefully constructed plans and defenses. The task of the artist is to cultivate the ability to see these eternal moments again and again. In this way, we are all invited to become artists.
For me, both art and spirituality are truly about tending to the moments of life. Listening deeply, holding space, encountering the sacred, touching eternity. For a few seconds we touch time beyond time and in that spacious presence my heart grows wider, my imagination frees, my breath catches, and I am held in awe and wonder.
We know we have touched this moment when we are moved by something beyond us yet also rising from deep within. We may be moved to tears or to laughter, or maybe both. In these moments the particulars of the world open us up to a great expanse. We suddenly see the other world hidden in the heart of this one. We may not know exactly why or how, but we know we have been touched and transformed, invited into greater compassion for ourselves and the world.
One of the great metaphors that appears across spiritual traditions for our deepening life in God is that of awakening. “Stay awake,” Jesus says to his disciples, “do not go back to sleep.” The slumber of being human creates a veil between our eyes and the truth of the world around us. We go back to sleep in many ways, any tools we use to numb ourselves including excessive time online, watching television, overeating, drinking too much, drugs, addiction to workaholism, all distract us from what is most real. Spiritual practice helps us to stay awake. Photography as one such practice helps us to cultivate an awakened vision so we really see.
Photography is for me a deeply contemplative practice. I take my camera out into the world and it invites me to slow down and linger over these moments of beauty. It opens me to wonder and delight. I cultivate sacred seeing, my ability to see the world beneath the surface appearance of things.
Seeing even the most ordinary moments of life with graced vision means that we can receive the beauty pulsing at the heart of the world at every turn.
Use code HEART20 for a 20% discount on our featured self-study retreat – Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice (companion retreat to the book).
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
*Blessing is from Christine’s book A Book of Everyday Blessings: 100 Prayers for Dancing Monks, Artists, and Pilgrims (Ave Maria Press)
