Awakened by the Ordinary
We are beings capable of extraordinary seeing—the kind of seeing that awakens the soul to wonder even in the most ordinary of moments.
When we slow down enough to truly notice the world around us, we realize that sacredness is not hidden in some distant place; it pulses quietly in the life before our eyes.
Too often, we overlook what is most alive because it arrives without fanfare. A bare tree, a fallen leaf, the hush of the woods after rain—these are not empty; they are full to overflowing. When we allow ourselves to be stopped in our tracks, to feel the raw immediacy of life stripped of pretense, we stand on holy ground. There is no secret formula, no lofty achievement needed. Only the willingness to be present, tender-hearted, awake.
Life is always offering itself, asking us only to say yes to the beauty that breaks through the familiar. Our task is simply to live with open senses, to let awe become a steady companion, to recognize the divine shimmering in the very places we thought were empty. This is not a rare gift given to the few—it is an inheritance written into the quiet strength of our shared humanity. Every moment holds the possibility of unveiling the sacred when we dare to look again.
It can be easy to feel dulled by the repetition of daily life, to walk through the familiar streets and forests and never quite see them anymore. Doubt creeps in, whispering that the sacred is far away, unreachable by our ordinary hands and weary hearts. The world can seem stripped down, barren, almost indifferent to our longing for something more.
Yet within this very barrenness, there is an invitation. The trees that stand leafless are not dead; they are gathering strength. The quiet places are not empty; they are holding mysteries not yet spoken. Our humanity, rich in resilience and deep-seeing, allows us to touch the holy right where we are, without needing anything more than openhearted attention.
When we risk pausing, risking the vulnerability of truly seeing what stands before us, we enter into a deeper belonging. We recognize that life itself is always more vast, more radiant, more intimate than our limited seeing often allows. In the ordinary, the Holy waits, patient and alive, ready to transfigure our smallness into connection and joy.
Be the one who looks twice. Be the one who is willing to be stopped by a bare tree, a shaft of light, the quiet breathing of the earth. The ordinary is not a desert; it is a hidden wellspring. Live today awake to its hidden rivers.
Heart of the Message: Sacredness is revealed through attentive seeing of the ordinary world. Everyday life, especially the natural world, holds invitations to encounter the Holy if we are willing to slow down, look again, and allow ourselves to be deeply moved.
I walk the earth where bare branches
scrape the sky with longing,
where the soft breath of unseen things
stirs the hunger I forgot I carried.
Here, among the everyday and the overlooked,
the whisper of a deeper life waits.
I kneel without knowing why,
only that something here is enough,
and more than enough,
to call me home.