Sacramental Living

Source Image: Juliana Coutinho via Flickr

"Thus, in the sacramental pattern of life, everything means something, everything may be a pointer to the holy. The connections, the comparisons, the metaphors, the sounds are all there, waiting to be recognized. The dazzling of truth may be gradual, but it is inevitable for those with eyes open to see." -Luci Shaw

Yesterday morning as I was reading before work, these words from Luci Shaw spoke to me particularly. Today, I have a piece just published at Curator Magazine that speaks to a similar theme-the idea that there is a truth that transcends, and that such a truth was placed there for he who has eyes to see and ears to hear. As an adult, I have been astounded by the simultaneous depth and smallness of the world, that is the ability to dive deep into so many notions in so many fields and still be able to find a common thread amongst them all. If we read between the lines, we will see that Shaw is suggesting that even the sourest and sorest of moments have the ability to dazzle and amaze.

A view of the world that is sacramental involves a trust and a belief that both the best of times and the worst of times are forming us, aye forming the world, into something magnificent. Part of growing up, I am learning, is becoming able to accept both the good and the bad and viewing all things through a lens that says "God has the ability to transform and use this, and he will." 

There are deep things that pain me about the world that surrounds me for which I lack the capacity to enact change. As I mourn these wounds and bruises, what is there to do but grow despondent? Unless, of course, some great artist is arranging the dots in just such a way as to make the most beautiful portrait possible. Without a shade of grey here, and a touch of blood red there, the painting would read static and lifeless. The roughened edges of each little crease and fold have begun to make the painting feel true to reality.

While I lack the chops to explain the reason for pain in much philosophical depth, what I do know is that there is a subtle rhythm to the world, and at times I feel its crescendos. As I take the time to unplug and turn my eyes outward, I become more and more captivated by each beat and note. Seeing the world in such a way has freed me from feeling that I have to fix everything, and enabled me to rejoice amidst the greatest of sorrows-confusing as they may be. It also pushes me towards a steady hopefulness that says "the world is not as it ought to be, but it is being reformed, and one day it will be made new." To use Shaw's imagery, "the comparisons, the metaphors, the sounds are all there, waiting to be recognized." The question is: are we paying attention?