There is a saying that no knight is a hero to his valet.
Often, the routine of daily living dulls one’s sense of magic and mystery.
People love children because it takes so little
to stoke in them a deep sense of awe and wonder.
Alas, all too soon people lose that sense of wonder and call it growing up.
If we are able to keep that sense of awe and wonder,
we will see magic and miracles in the most ordinary things.
I wake up every morning always enthralled by the sunrise
streaming through my window which faces the east.
And then I imagine the sun’s light traveling millions of miles
and bathing the entire earth with life giving energy,
making possible the greens of the trees and the blues of the seas.
It is amazing how plants and other living things absorb and store this energy,
each in their own unique way.
We eat plants and meat to give us the energy we need to keep alive.
It has taken men centuries to understand and clarify this cycle of life
– from the sun to our cells.
It is taking longer, or faster, for men to see how God’s grace also permeates all of creation ,to make it whole and holy.
Longer, if one only believes in the sciences.
Faster, if one chooses to see with the eyes of faith.
The travails and humdrum routine of one’s life often deaden
this wonderful sense of the magical and mysterious.
Yet, there is something magical and mysterious in our routine and ordinary activities.
I love doing regular physical exercise for I can see the results
in stronger muscles and a sturdier body.
I also need regular spiritual exercise to keep alive that sense of wonder
that made me lovable as a child,
to truly appreciate my interconnectedness to people around me;
to see the beauty that suffuses every day of my life;
and to remain in the Presence that makes all of this possible.