Sacramental
Life
“If
everyday life is our prayer, the moments we offer up to create an
authentic life are our sacraments.”
Sarah
Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance)
Most
of us don't typically think of our lives as sacramental. But, what
if we did? Every religion or spiritual practice has its sacraments.
The seven sacraments of the Christian church are: Baptism, Communion,
Confirmation, Marriage, Confession, Ordination and Healing of the
Sick, or Last Rites. When you look at those, do you see things that
you do every day? When we bathe, when we have a shared meal, when we
read or study, when we extend compassion and friendship to another,
when we tell a friend something that is weighing on our heart, or
listen while they tell us, when we feel called to do something for
someone else, and when we visit people who are lonely, sick or dying,
we are engaged in sacrament.
According
to The Book of Common Prayer, a sacrament is defined as, “An
outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” What is
lacking in most people is not a sacramental life, but the awareness
of it as such. A large part of spiritual development is learning to
see the sacred in the everyday—to realize that all aspects of
creation, including our own ordinary life, are sacred. If all is one,
and all is sacred, then everything we say and do, everything we see
and hear, is imbued with divine spirit. We cannot escape it, we can
only tune it out or tune it in.
When
we choose to see the holy in the ordinary, our lives feel full of
grace even when they are difficult. And, when we choose to ignore the
sacredness of life, it feels harsh and unmanageable, regardless of
ease. If we fall deeply enough into unconsciousness, we engage in
behavior that is immoral by anyone's standards. Corruption is an
example of such unawareness.
Today,
let's practice seeing our lives as sacramental. Whatever we are
doing, we can say to ourselves, “this is a sacrament.” Preparing
this food is a sacrament, washing these dishes is a sacrament, coming
home to my mate, or my pet, is a sacrament, heart-felt conversation
is a sacrament, my work is a sacrament. I wish all of us a day filled
with grace.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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