taking it all in
Turning the page on a new year, I’ve reflected on how I began my journey of Quotidian Thoughts over eleven years ago. What is a Quotidian Thought anyway?
Quotidian Thoughts are those moments of everydayness, that take on some meaning or significance because of their very ordinariness. They are part of the refusal to live life casually without taking stock of all the beauty around us, even in the small and seemingly insignificant. Rabbi Abraham Heschel writes, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible…to be spiritual is to be amazed.”
If I’m honest, the last year had some tremendous opportunities for amazement, punctuated with some disappointments. Both the highs and the lows have been instructional. Here are some of the things I learned in 2024:
- Traveling, both internationally and domestically revealed to me my own deficits and resources. I learned that I rely so much on comfort and ease. When that was tested, I found a creative resilience that I didn’t think I possessed. I learned that when traveling with my whole family, it is good for Dave and myself to have a couple of days at the beginning to get where we are going and get the lay of the land, and then a couple of days by ourselves at the end to recover before flying home.
- Seeing some relationships tested this year has taught me how easily I can be hurt. I’ve learned that what is necessary for relationship repair is a radical love and honesty coming from both parties. One person alone cannot manage it.
- Becoming a leader in my church has taught me once again that every human being is dysfunctional. And every struggling soul needs more grace than I am capable of giving without supernatural help. I need to see others through Christ’s eyes and serve as if each person was Christ himself.
- Watching the systems of the world explode in wars and implode in internal division, I realize once more that I cannot heal a broken, hurting world. The problems are beyond me. But I must lean in with redeeming prayer.
So, what do I want in 2025? More prayer, more honesty, more opportunities to bless. I also want a gentler pace and a kinder, more loving heart. I want to worship more than I worry. I want to “live life in radical amazement.” Like my granddaughter in this photo, I want to be caught smiling at the world around me, taking it all in with an unspoiled purity and love…every beautiful place, every beautiful soul.
May God richly bless you with amazement in the coming year.
Love, Liz
