On one occasion she was moved by pity to give the pork that she was cooking in the cauldron for guests to a dog that came fawning and begging…Again she gathered reapers and workers together for the harvest… Once when bishops were coming together as her guests, she had nothing with which to feed them. But her need was richly met in the usual way by the manifold grace of God. She milked a cow three times in a single day, contrary to custom…When she was pasturing her sheep on rich and level ground that was thick with grass, she was caught in heavy rain and returned home soaked to the skin.
– Cogitosus, The Life of St. Brigit the Virgin
For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
– Habakkuk 2.14
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
– 1 Corinthians 10.31
Attending to the ordinary
Very seldom, I suspect, do we think of our favorite saints in anything other than the terms for which we think them great. They were great mystics, like Anthony or Julian. Or solid theologians, like Augustine or Edwards. Or great preachers, say, like Chrysostom or Whitefield. Powerful evangelists. Charismatic leaders. And so on. Our heroes of the faith are remembered for what we think of as making them heroic. We are not much interested in their everyday lives. They had them, of course, and if we ever thought about them this way, we would probably assume that they attended to all the quotidian details of their lives with honor, efficiency, and grace. Which they probably did, for all we know.
It is characteristic of Irish hagiography, however, to note the details of everyday life in which the saints they honor were necessarily involved. Milking cows, cooking meals, helping with the harvests and the herds—we hear about such things because most often it was in these everyday contexts that saints like Brigit performed the works for which they are memorialized.
Brigit was renowned for miracles of healing and provision. Nearly all of these, however, were performed in everyday situations, with but a small audience, and while Brigit was taking care of ordinary business. They weren’t planned, they were spontaneous. And they did not occasion the gathering of great crowds.
But ordinary things—like work, and animals, and streams, and so forth—were anything but ordinary for many Irish Christians. Every good work or miracle done in an ordinary setting was regarded, typically without comment, as one more proof that the Lord was present and ruling in all things, advancing His Kingdom into every nook and cranny of creation and life.
Whatever you do
It’s likely that most of us don’t think of ourselves as saints, even though this is one of Paul’s favorite ways of addressing his readers—ordinary folk like you and me. A saint is someone who has been “set apart” unto the Lord to share in a relationship of mutual love and to serve God’s purposes in all things.
It is God’s purpose to be glorified in our world. He is busily at work glorifying Himself in all created things, in which, as we attend to them with the eye of faith, we may learn to glimpse God’s glory in the forms, motions, colors, shapes, growth, and ways of creatures of every sort. Great saints like Brigit did not neglect ordinary work or leave it to others while they were busy doing their saint-thing. They joined their colleagues in doing what every ordinary Christian does, taking care of daily business without grumbling or complaining, with efficiency, determination, and thoroughness, and not without challenges or trials, such as being “soaked to the skin” while tending your flock.
God’s glory is all around us. It is waiting, as Hopkins wrote, to flash out suddenly or ooze sweetly around us as we apply ourselves, soul and body, to the everyday activities of life. God’s glory is all around us and can come to light by those who know Him. For most people in the world do not observe the glory of God in ordinary things. But we are not most people in the world. We are saints. And as saints, part of our duty is to bring out God’s glory in every place and situation so that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. And who knows, while we’re doing some everyday thing—fetching the mail, walking the dog, shopping, gardening, taking down the trash, preparing a meal—if we remember that God’s glory is always present and ready to shine, we may find a way to bring it forth that will please Him and allow us to enter a bit further into His joy.
Because that’s what saints do. Even ordinary saints.
For Reflection
1. What has God set you apart for today so that you can glorify and enjoy Him?2. How can you better remember that God’s glory is always around you everywhere? How should you respond to that?
Psalm 84.1-12
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
LORD of hosts, how sweet Your dwelling; how my soul longs for Your courts!
Let my soul with joy keep telling of Your grace forevermore.
Like a bird upon the altar, let my life to You belong.
Blessed are they who never falter as they praise Your grace with song!
Blessed are they whose strength is founded in Your strength, O LORD above.
All whose hearts in You are grounded journey in Your strength and love.
Though they weep with tears of sadness, grace shall all their way sustain.
In Your Presence, filled with gladness, they shall conquer all their pain.
LORD of hosts, my prayer receiving, hear me, help me by Your grace!
In Your courts I stand believing; turn to me Your glorious face!
LORD, our sun, our shield, our glory, no good thing will You deny
to those who proclaim Your story, and who on Your grace rely.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we continue looking at ways the Law of God applies to our lives. This week in our Read Moore podcast we consider the question of what it means to know Jesus Christ. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
