Blessings of the monotonous

While recovering from an extraordinary life event (a kidney transplant), my blogfather Doug Floyd has been reminded of God's grace in the ordinary:

We live in culture of 24-hour news cycles, unnatural celebrity lifestyles, exorbitant wealth, and the illusion that something spectacular should be happening all the time. But life really isn’t like that. G.K. Chesterton once observed that one of the signs of fallenness is our inability to exalt in monotony. We continually want something new, more exciting, more stimulating.

If not like the culture around us, then how should our attention be directed?

The kingdom of heaven is often slow and hidden. God may spend hundreds if not thousands of years working out his purposes. In our own lives, we often want his work to be faster and more visible. Then we would feel like we’re making progress! And who knows, we might write a book about our own spiritual encounters, and we might even get to headline conferences.

But the transforming grace of God usually penetrates the secret places of the heart and often works in and through the most ordinary circumstances.

Amen. As good as Doug's writing has been during his recovery, I'm tempted to suggest he have a kidney transplant more often. But only tempted.