Everything

Sometimes I think it is ironic how often the stuff of my daily life reminds me of Biblical truth in some random way.

And then I remember.

Everything is spiritual.

A couple of years ago Kevin and I heard a speaker named Rob Bell teach at a funky little club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His speaking tour was entitled "Everything is Spiritual".

And I really believe it is.

Remembering that truth actually brings much more meaning (and importance and accountability) to my daily existence. If everything truly is spiritual, then I guess it does matter how I respond to my children when I am exhausted. Or which words come out of my mouth when I discover Bergen peed in the bed, changed his clothes, shoved them back in his closet and slept on top of the pee stain all night without telling me. I guess I am accountable for the lessons I teach my children through my actions and the very manner in which I order our days and our weeks.

If everything is spiritual then God probably ordained those moments and situations in my life that I find cumbersome, burdensome or plain old boring.

A former teacher of mine recently read my blog and wrote me a really encouraging note. He said, "In my life I have achievements of which I am proud, and foolish low points which I pray be removed from mine and all who know memories. I thank God that he can remove as far as the east is from the west. Between these extremes, are the routines of our days. Your blog reminds me not to let the routines become routine, but rather that their sum is the value of our lives."

Yeah, that's golden. Because that means that the every day stuff which takes up most of our time and energy (the sum) is really the important part of our lives. It means . . . everything is spiritual.

Although thinking of everything in our life being spiritual places a heavier emphasis on our daily decisions, the stuff we think God just doesn't care about, it also makes our lives so much more worthwhile. It makes it easier to keep my kitchen tidy. Encourages me to enjoy the nightly bathtime ritual. To hold my tongue when I want to complain about the long line at the grocery aisle or the slow car in front of us with his left turn signal still on.

Since so much of my life during these years of raising small children is spent in mundane tasks, I find it empowering to believe that everything is spiritual. I find it redeeming to know that God sees my ministry to my family as an act of worship to Him. Because that's what it is. That's what I want it to be. Everything is spiritual.

How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives. - Annie Dillard