“Practice seeking the presence of our Lord in all things: in [your] dealings with other people, [your] walking, seeing, tasting, hearing, understanding, and all our activities. For his Divine Majesty truly is in everything by his presence, power, and essence.” - Ignatius of Loyola This “finding God in everything” is one of the central tenets of Ignatian spirituality – we are expected to come across Jesus in our daily life. Too often, we live with a distinction between what are the “sacred” moments of life…and the ones that aren’t: we don’t see God in our everyday lives, and we don’t expect to. But when we spend time attending to the presence of Jesus in the midst of daily things like interactions with family members or the little moments of beauty in the course of our day (or, yes, even in moments of suffering), we are present to what is Real. In our real lives. Not in some dreamy imagined faith-life we wish we had (or think we have!), but in the reality of the life we are actually living – working, cooking, parenting, watching TV, loving, maintaining our homes, eating fast food, walking the dog. Where do you tend to see Jesus, in your life? Is he only in Scripture, or at church? Or are there sacred everyday moments that you encounter him in? Do you catch glimpses of him in the eyes of the ones you interact with every day, or strangers on the street? Is he just in the gospels, or at the moment of conversion, or those mountaintop experiences? Or is he waiting in the moments of every day, the ones that usually pass you by? Let’s spend some time this week paying attention, noticing God in the reality of our everyday lives. Feel free to comment with any glimpses you notice today!

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-01-31 16:24:53 UTC