God of Monotony

Sometimes we enter periods of spiritual contemplation, like Lent, with unspoken but high expectations. We seek a dramatic spiritual renewal that will unmistakably make itself known to us. We wait in eager anticipation for the clap of thunder or the firm guiding voice or the sudden awakening. But it doesn't come. Instead, life just grinds on.

But if we set our sights on grand revelations then we miss the fact that God often speaks to us through the everyday. Indeed, every hour of every day offers us with opportunities to experience God's presence. Even the smallest things -- perhaps especially the smallest things -- can shine with divine light.

Mark Van Doren expresses it exactly in these few lines:

Of breakfast, then of walking to the pond;
Of wind, work, rain, and sleep I never tire.
God of monotony, may you be fond
Of me and these forever, and wood fire.

It seems to me a perfect poem. It seems to me a perfect prayer.

Amen.