Mythic Landscapes: The Ordinary as Mask of the Holy - Tara Thompson

As a child my mother had me convinced that God was everywhere, all the time. I would look around the house and point to different things, “Is God in this lamp, mommy?” “What about in this banana? How can God fit into a banana!?” It was during that time that I was on my best behavior, I felt as though God was watching me everywhere I turned and I knew that I had to show Him that I was a good little girl. As I grew up, I slowly forgot about that. I began to only seek God where He is most expected to be, in church, while I was reading my bible, etc..

“In Christian thought, the one great practical truth of the incarnation is that the ordinary is no longer at all what it appears. Common things, common actions, common relationships are all granted new definition because the holy has once and for all become ordinary in Jesus Christ.” Lane couldn’t have phrased that better. I’m reading through Luke right now, and just as every where else through out the bible, it shares with you the ordinary things Jesus constantly used to exemplify the holy. Not only was Christ made ordinary, but he preached about ordinary things to reflect the sacredness of His Father. He taught parables about shepherds and their sheep, one of the most normal jobs in His day. He taught of normal people, and their normal duties, of farming and tax collecting. He taught parables of mustard seeds, and lanterns. Jesus screams ordinary, yet he is more extraordinary than we can even imagine. How is it that I could forget how simply extraordinary God is, that I would only see Him in Church?

Jesus said in Luke 18, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Maybe that is because as we grow up, we forget to view God’s ordinary creation as His holy works. Yes, I would agree that if God were to split a sea right in front of me, I would be amazed by His holiness. However, the Lord is so cool that he masks His brilliance as ordinary, every day occurrences and things, such as a golden leaf falling from a tree, or the smile of a best friend. Once you realize how extraordinary the ordinary is though, the brilliance of our Creator is seen and you’re amazed by how much you’ve been missing out on.