Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Glory in the Ordinary


I want to share with you a change in the theme of my blog and why the change in its name. I have become aware lately of how God wants to speak to us through the ordinariness of everyday life.

Ordinary sights. The things that we see everyday and…He is communicating through these pictures but we fail to slow down, to really see HIM in the wonder of the world around us.

Ordinary acts. Jesus tells us that to give a cup of water to someone in His name is something He will reward. Yet we belittle, minimize, trivialize small acts and don’t recognize the glory, the reflection of the heart of God in them.

Ordinary people. Children, men and women. Those who may be overlooked, these are the ones where God’s power and presence shines forth the greatest because they don’t hog the spotlight.

These are the things I want to write about. For me to do this I must slow down, quiet down, watch, listen and reflect. I invite anyone who would like to read this with me to do the same. We live in a time where we are moving too fast, are flooded with too much information and too many choices, we have too much noise and visual imagery coming at us.

The side effect I believe is that in order to adapt we shut down our ability to see God, to hear God in the ordinariness of our lives. As those around us look at the world and can’t see God I want to be, as C.S. Lewis described himself, one who looks at my world and “cannot NOT see God.”

We worship celebrity and live vicarious, passive lives through their lives. This is happening in the church as well as the culture at large. We become spectators and admirers of a very small number and applaud a few “super saints.” This is killing our vibrancy, our aliveness to God. We are compartmentalizing our faith and idolizing a few.

We forget that so much is eternally at stake when the least of us makes a choice to trust, to obey God. As Chris Tiegren writes, “Never despise the small things in your life. Never spend so much time reaching for the high-impact acts of ministry that you neglect the minute details of service. The massive doors of God’s kingdom swing on tiny hinges of our faith and obedience. Focus on the hinges, and you’ll see the doors open wide.”

I am going to write these believing that many of you who have read my “Father Power” blogs will stay with me on this journey. (If you don’t want to you can always unsubscribe.) I invite you to share your stories, to dialogue with me and others about where you see God showing up in your life in the day to day. I think this is going to be an adventurous journey. I hope you choose to join me.

Jamie

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4 comments:

Unknown said...

Whoa, Jamie, I have been considering the same theme, recently. I think the Holy Spirit has gently prodded me to pay attention to the ordinary, tiny, brief events that occur in our daily life. And these come through the ordinary people of our daily lives, namely our family, our close friends, our work mates....

And a corollary to your focus on the ordinary, is the whisper with which the Jesus speaks to us, when he does so, directly to us!

Marshall said...

Great change of course, Jamie. I am taking the same journey.

Kevin said...

Jamie,
So many times we lose sight of why we are here. It's not to make more money, get the limelight or get a promotion. We are here to serve God where we are no matter what we do for a living. Our integrity is of utmost importance. I have always enjoyed your blogs and this ordinary man is on the same path as well. Thanks for the encouraging words.

Unknown said...

Jamie, I'm really glad to hear that you're moving in this direction with your blog. While I'll miss Father Power, I think that one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is to take their eyes off our celebrity-driven, materialistic culture and re-focus on the ordinary things in life. That sets them up for a future of gratitude, thankfulness and peace instead of striving for the empty rewards this world offers.

It's hard to hear that "still, small voice" when the noise of the world tries to drown it out.