John Marson Dunaway
French & Interdisciplinary Studies
Mercer University
Life can seem unremarkably routine on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Author Frederick Buechner’s notion of the hidden, often unrecognized presence of God in many of the commonplace events of our lives has challenged me to be more alert to those opportunities for communion with my Father.
When He Began His Duties
It also reminds me of Brother Lawrence, whose little classic, The Practice of the Presence of God, shows us how we can discover God’s presence in washing dishes, scrubbing floors, or pulling weeds in the garden. When he began his duties in the kitchen, he simply turned to God inwardly and prayed with implicit trust.
This prayer of Brother Lawrence has meant a lot to me:
“O my God, since Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy presence; and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.”
I find it significant that he doesn’t pray, “Be with me,” but “since Thou art with me.”
Martin Luther taught that no job is too humble to be offered up to God as an acceptable sacrifice. “The menial housework of a manservant or maidservant,” he said, “is often more acceptable to God than all the fastings and other works of a monk or priest.” He also said on the subject of marriage that “God and the angels smile when a man changes a diaper.”
A spiritual exercise for me is to wash the dishes after dinner. It’s not a huge sacrifice, but it’s a way of reminding myself of the debt of gratitude I owe my wife and it can be offered up to God as an offering of gratitude and praise in the spirit of Brother Lawrence.
An Attentive Awareness
I remind myself as I grade each student’s paper to pray for that particular student. And, the 20-minute drive to and from my office can thus be space occupied by an attentive awareness of God’s presence, meditating on scripture, or just listening for His voice, rather than filling up that space with news of the visible world or entertainment.
Maybe we professors should offer up our affections to God while we’re occupied with the menial tasks of our day.
Maybe we should give up some of the noise in our lives, focusing our hunger on the bread that comes down from heaven and creating a space in our lives to hear His voice more readily.
As the Psalmist recorded, “Be still and know that I am God.” (46:10)
(c) John Marson Dunaway