Mundane Sanctity
Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks, or even months, where every day seems to be another obstacle you have to overcome? Or there’s another decision you have to make, another plan you have to figure out, and nothing seems to just be going smoothly?
That’s been my life for the past several months. Between traveling for work and dealing with body fatigue, balancing hard friendships, my car breaking down and trying to get a new one, the list seems to be piling up without an end in sight. All of this on top of trying to cultivate a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus.
Everything has just felt overwhelming and too much to handle, but life doesn’t stop. There has been a lot that’s happened in my life in the past couple of months that to a person looking in, would be great excuses to lose my peace, or become really stressed. However, recently, I’ve also been aware that these situations are not obstacles to the will of God in my life, but they are the very means that help me live out the will of God in my ordinary and mundane life.
This points beautifully to the idea that there is great sanctity to be had in the normal, everyday situations we find ourselves. Saint Josemaría Escrivá once said in a homily, “… there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it… there is no other way, my daughters and sons: either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him” (homily from Passionately Loving the World, 1967).
Sometimes we think that God’s will for our lives look like exciting adventures every day! And being called to do amazing, supernatural things! And when that doesn’t happen, it’s tempting to think we missed out on what God really wants us to do. But what if God’s will for me is to talk to my auto mechanic in a loving way? What if God’s will for me is to love my friends during difficult seasons in their lives? Even when they don’t want to change? What if God’s will for me is to lovingly clean my home and invite people over for a long, quiet dinner that won’t be broadcasted on any social media channels or shared with the world? What if the very season I am in, I am in for a reason because the Lord wants to sanctify and make holy this hidden season of my life?
When I change my perspective and look at all the “disruptions” to my day as a means of sanctification and choosing holiness, those very same “disruptions” actually can bring a lot of peace. I don’t have to fight the constant thought that I’m somehow missing out on God’s will for my life, because the very thing I’m doing this day is God’s will for my life. If I’m staying close to Him in prayer, in the sacraments, and through community, then I can trust that God will lead and direct my steps wherever He sees fit. If He desires to change the course, I trust that He will.
It says in Isaiah 30:20-21, “The Lord will give you bread in adversity and water in affliction. No longer will your Teacher hide Himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you: ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you would turn to the right or to the left.”
If you are honestly seeking God, you can trust that He will guide your steps and use everything during your seemingly normal, mundane, everyday living for His glory and for your sanctification.