When God Enters The Ordinary

The Liturgical calendar resumes Ordinary Time. In reflecting on this, I began to reflect how down through the centuries, God has entered the ordinary.
Sacred Scripture contains one example after another of what happens when God enters the ordinary. The most profound, of course, is that of He Himself entering the human race in the person of Jesus Christ. However, if we go back to the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis and read the chapters on creation, we can see God entering the ordinary.  He made man from dust; it doesn’t get more ordinary than dust! We see God’s transforming powers in the lives of ordinary people like Abraham and Sarah, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna. He enters the lives of 12 ordinary men, some fishermen, others tax collectors. All of these people were leading simple ordinary lives. Then God stepped in and nothing in their lives was ever ordinary again.
The lives of the saints attest to this as well. St Ignatius of Loyola’s own conversion came about in some difficult, but ordinary circumstances. He was a soldier who had great plans for his own glory in fighting great military battles ~ that is, until he was injured one day on the battlefield. During his recovery, his sister had brought him some books on the life of Christ and on the lives of the saints.  Ignatius wasn’t much interested in these, but began to read them anyway. What he read in these books became the catalyst for his conversion. His plans became less about his glory and all about God’s. 
All of this got me thinking about my own life. I sometimes like to imagine my own conception.  As God breathed my soul into the cells of my humble beginnings, what was He thinking? What did He see?  I can almost hear Him say, “I know the plans I have for you…”  (see Jeremiah 29:11) I know that for most of my life I did not allow God to carry out the plans He had for me, but once I got out of the way and began to see that my life is not about me, but about God, extraordinary things began to happen.  I know there are still times I tend to get in His way, but that is no longer my intention. I slowly have begun to recognize those times I make my life to be more about me, and I don’t like the results of those times.
God is always striving to enter our lives at each and every ordinary moment. He won’t come into them uninvited though. Our goal in this life is to live our lives, ordinary as they may be, in such a way that will get us home to God for eternity. In order for that to happen, we have to let Him in and transform our ordinariness into His extraordinariness, for heaven is no ordinary place!

Comments

Out of an ordinary humble Blog, someone somewhere might meet God for the first time.

What a responsibility.

God bless.
Unknown said…
Absolutely, Victor. Every once in awhile I take a look at my stats for this blog. I am amazed and humbled because of the exact thought you mentioned. Many of those people don't comment- but maybe God will work to bring back just one person.
Thanks for visiting and God bless!
Mary N. said…
Karin,
I loved reading this post! It fires me up when I think of how God works in the lives of your average everyday person if they allow Him to. I, also, loved your words concerning your conception :)
It often comes to my mind lately that Our Lord is using "little David blogs" to slay the "Goliaths". By "Goliaths" I mean large blogs and sites which draw people away from Christ. These Goliaths are all over the internet. Sadly, we live in a very secular society.
God makes sure the right person reads the right Blog at the right time.

God bless.
Daily Grace said…
With the grace and love of our almighty God, we, the ordinary, can do the extraordinary. In him all things are possible.

I love the reflection you have on your own conception, God breathing spirit and life into you soul...wow!

The sun's light radiating through the tree really speaks to this post.

Beautiful!
Unknown said…
Mary- I like your "little Davids"... and I agree. If Satan can use this medium, so can God's faithful.(and we should!)

DG- The thought about what God was thinking and planning at my conception came to me some time ago.
You and Mary both commented on that. But God knew what He had planned for each of us at that moment. I find it a humbling thought.

Victor- I agree with you about God leading people to the right blog at the right time. This fits in with what Mary was saying about the "little Davids".

Thanks to you all for your thoughts on this post. I wrote it some time ago and had it in draft. I thought it was appropriate with resuming Ordinary Time.
CWrites said…
I left a longer comment that disappeared due to inadvertent finger tap on my "smart"phone. I did like this post so much that I referred to it in my post :)
Unknown said…
That's why I don't use a smart phone :)
Thanks for commenting and for the link in your post.
God bless!
Glenna said…
I thought all this time that I was the only person who imagined their own conception!
this post would make St Ignatius Loyola proud...I just had to tweet it!
Unknown said…
Thanks ThereseRita, Glad I wasn't the only one thinking about my conception:) Thanks also for the Tweet.