The Sacred & The Daily

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

—Ecclesiastes 3:11–12

There’s normal life, day-to-day, make-breakfast, do-the-dishes life, but just underneath that, like a throb of bass you feel in your chest, I feel a whole other thing going on. There is something sacred, something special dipping and weaving within that same old thing, like a firefly, like a great song. The sacred mixes in with the daily when you have a conversation with someone you love, or when you read a great book, or when you do something courageous. It’s still just a normal day, but there’s something bigger, something more compelling going on too.

I live according to my faith when I let the flavor and scent of something fresh from the ground surprise me and bring me back to life. I demonstrate my theology when I dance all night with people I love, because this life is worth the best celebration we can offer up to it. I thank God every time I eat crusty bread and garlicky olives, and when I smell clean laundry and hear that little squeak of fingers on a guitar. For me, what God said when he made the world is a prayer: It is good.