Be people who hold tight to the great mystery of faith with a clear conscience. ~ 1 Timothy 3:9 The VOICE, adapted
June 7, 2024.
In the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary, my father-in-law Dan told the guests that “marriage is both mysterious and mundane.”
It is a profound paradox. There are the mysterious moments, that two people meet and at some point point recognize the sparks of attraction and love. It is a mystery that two people become one as affirmed in the marriage ceremony.
Marriage is solidified in the mundane, learning to accept differences of styles and opinions, toilet seats left up or down, raising or lowering the thermostat, cooking or cleaning up, yard work or house work, and sighing as you lay your heads on your pillows and saying the words “I love you,” despite the fatigue of the day.
Somehow, in God’s hidden ways, a marriage is made and sustained by both the mysterious and the mundane.
I’ve reflected on those words since my father-in-law passed away a week ago. I am convinced that the mysterious and the mundane describe our spiritual lives as well. We are moved by mysterious moments, a double rainbow that catches our eye, a deeply moving piece of music that resonates in our hearts, a few seconds of time when a sense of transcendent peace washes over our being to let us know all is well. These are moments of grace that briefly shine brilliantly within.
And then the mundane arrives. We wash the dishes, pay the bills, drive the car, change the diapers, and heave a sigh of relief at the end of the day. This, too, is a mystery of grace in the mundane, ordinarily tasks of daily life.
Our faith is mystery and mundane patched together over our lives, until life is woven into the greatest mystery of all.
Thank you, Dan, for your wise words and living them into eternity. May we do so as well. ~ Anne
Wayfinding 