Ordinary? No, not at all...
I posted this article at my own site but thought I would share it here, also. It's the second part of a two part post on the dignity of the human person and the everyday means that God uses to sanctify people. In the first post I joked about some of the funnier moments in life that God uses to teach and sanctify us but, life, despite its more humorous moments, is preparing us for eternity:
All joking aside for a moment - my last post on how God makes saints out of "regular" people contains an element of truth to it. More than an element, actually. I use the term "regular" people loosely. In truth...there is no such thing as a "regular" person. That bald, chubby, man that you stood next to in the grocery store yesterday is a saint-in-the making. If you were to see his soul with the glorious indwelling of the Trinity you just might fall to your knees in wonder. We are, each and every one, children of the King. And the glory of God surrounds us. It's a good thing that God blinded us to a degree or not much work would get done here on earth. We would spend all our days lost in wonder at the glory of God, both in ourselves and in others. We are temples of the Holy Spirit and this is no small thing.
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
C.S. Lewis
Chew on that one for a while. Made me think twice about yelling at my child, that's for sure. I am likely screaming at a future saint. I came across this quote by C.S. Lewis last year and to say it has affected me is an understatement. I was floored by it. With a few simple words it puts life in its proper perspective. We may not see this splendor in others yet...but it is there.
God sanctifies his people and usually uses ordinary, everyday, circumstances to do so. I joked around in my last post about the means He uses to form a holy people for himself but in all actuality I was being truthful. The everyday circumstances of our lives (that may seem so pointless or monotonous in our eyes) have the ability to produce great saints if we cooperate with the grace God gives us. Virtues have the chance to flourish and vices can be overcome just by our day to day responses to the challenges the Lord allows to be thrown in our path. There are no circumstances on this earth that God cannot use as saint making material.
It's all saint making material...every single bit of it.
We choose whether to use it as such.
But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9
All joking aside for a moment - my last post on how God makes saints out of "regular" people contains an element of truth to it. More than an element, actually. I use the term "regular" people loosely. In truth...there is no such thing as a "regular" person. That bald, chubby, man that you stood next to in the grocery store yesterday is a saint-in-the making. If you were to see his soul with the glorious indwelling of the Trinity you just might fall to your knees in wonder. We are, each and every one, children of the King. And the glory of God surrounds us. It's a good thing that God blinded us to a degree or not much work would get done here on earth. We would spend all our days lost in wonder at the glory of God, both in ourselves and in others. We are temples of the Holy Spirit and this is no small thing.
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
C.S. Lewis
Chew on that one for a while. Made me think twice about yelling at my child, that's for sure. I am likely screaming at a future saint. I came across this quote by C.S. Lewis last year and to say it has affected me is an understatement. I was floored by it. With a few simple words it puts life in its proper perspective. We may not see this splendor in others yet...but it is there.
God sanctifies his people and usually uses ordinary, everyday, circumstances to do so. I joked around in my last post about the means He uses to form a holy people for himself but in all actuality I was being truthful. The everyday circumstances of our lives (that may seem so pointless or monotonous in our eyes) have the ability to produce great saints if we cooperate with the grace God gives us. Virtues have the chance to flourish and vices can be overcome just by our day to day responses to the challenges the Lord allows to be thrown in our path. There are no circumstances on this earth that God cannot use as saint making material.
It's all saint making material...every single bit of it.
We choose whether to use it as such.
But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9
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