Taking the time to notice God.

I think that’s what I’m trying to do. I think that’s what this blog is about. But you can tell that I’m still trying to figure that out.

Barbara Brown Taylor opens her wonderful book, An Altar in the World, with the observation that “the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it.” We fail to look, or at least to grasp what it is that we are seeing.

I first read those word nearly fifteen years ago during a time when I was struggling to notice God. Desperately hoping to find God, yes—but failing. I left my job and asked my family to move to a new home in a new state, so that I could look for that red X elsewhere.

Since then, I’ve been learning, but it’s still hard to see the ground beneath my feet sometimes.

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Richard Beck introduced me to the phrase ‘sacramental ontology’. It’s the idea that all of creation is infused with the glory of God, and that we’re invited to take notice: A red X here. A red X there. A red X everywhere you look!

I love that… but what does it mean? How does it help? Maybe it’s true—that it’s possible to recognize God—but I’m not very good at it.

I have come to the conclusion that I don’t get any shortcuts. (Believe me… I wish for them!) Every once in a while, I encounter something that feels sacred. There’s a hint of something holy. I’m invited to acknowledge it. In the process, I learn a little. Maybe next time, it will be easier.

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This year, there was a marigold in the parking lot at work. It grew out of a crack between the pavement and the curb. No one told it that it didn’t belong; that a parking lot crack isn’t the place for a marigold. It just did its thing. Maybe that was holy.

The accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it.

“An Altar in the World” by Barbara Brown Taylor