“Finding God in the Ordinary”

Pop singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan scored a hit with the song Ordinary Miracle, which included the following lyrics:

It’s not that unusual
When everything is beautiful.
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.

The sky knows when it’s time to snow,
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow.
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.…

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls,
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.

Birds in winter have their fling
But always make it home by spring.
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.…

Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night.
It’s just another ordinary miracle today.*

Theologians might understandably quibble over the definition of “miracle,” but the song is, I think, on to something. We’re encouraged through the tune to look at ordinary, everyday things in a different light, seeing something extraordinary in the ordinary.

In his brief book Finding God in the Ordinary, Pierce Taylor Hibbs does the same. But the “extraordinary” he wants us to discover is God. To be more precise, his objective is for us to see truth about God in things we experience all around us every day. He very clearly denies espousing any form of pantheism, “as if God were identified with the world he created and everything in it were divine.” Instead, he says,  “I have simply made an attempt to find God in the ordinary, to look at the world around me and experience his presence.”  (p. 71)

Before sharing some of the commonplace objects that captured his writing attention, I think it helps to hear his warning about failing to experience God in such things. First, he suggests, we run the risk of “becoming ignorant of or even immune to God’s presence.” Orthodox Christians affirm the “omnipresence” of God, that he is everywhere present at all times. But how? Hibbs argues, along with scores of theologians before him, that “God is present via his revelation. The whole world, all that has been made (Romans 1:18-21) reveals God.”

A second danger of failing to find God in the ordinary impacts our view of the world. We simply won’t see it accurately. All we’ll observe are the inter-workings of matter, governed by the laws of physics. Yet, citing Psalm 19:1-4, Hibbs remarks, “The whole earth, every crevice of creation, has been endowed by God himself with a revelatory component.” In other words, the soon return of the robin from its warmer winter home tells us something about its Creator, as does the sun in the endless cycle of coming up, shining bright, and disappearing again at night.

Third, we’ll be duped by the culture’s notion that life is comprised of momentous events, spectacular experiences, and remarkable sights. Yet, most of life is other; it’s ordinary. If we fail to look for God in these things, “we will miss very precious parts of life.… If we rush ahead to what we deem ‘extraordinary,’ we will miss a wealth of ‘ordinary’ gifts, precious gifts, that God is giving to us every day.” (p. 72)

With that as a framework, the author pens fifteen short chapters, each centering on some ordinary, everyday thing we so easily take for granted. Meditating for a while on each, he finds God; rather, he finds something about God in that thing.

How many times have you intently focused on your steaming cup of coffee…and seen the solar system?

Did you ever think a child’s giggle could lead to a meditation on God’s memory?

Speaking of just another ordinary miracle, Hibbs finds one in the greeting you may have shared with a co-worker yesterday when you arrived at your workplace. Did you say, “Good morning!”? You undoubtedly did so without a thought about the Trinity. But there’s Trinity truth in those two brief words of hello.

The chapters invite us to look at dust…shadows…a crouton…a dog…wind…birds…the sun…snow…a thumb…and slivers of light, and find God in such mundane stuff. One of the most interesting chapters discusses how the mere sound of sibilants—the hissing sounds made by the letter s—leads to thoughts about God the giver of speech and language, about the God who Himself speaks.

The book is brief—a mere 73 pages—with each chapter running between four to six pages. So it could be a fast read, but I don’t recommend it. Just as it takes time and deliberation to find God in the ordinary, the reader is better served reading a chapter, putting the book down, and then chewing on it awhile.

If nothing else, Finding God in the Ordinary will likely stimulate the reader to start looking at some commonplace things and start to ponder. “Where is God in this? What does it tell me about Him?” You may not be able to come to some of the profound observations of Pierce Hibbs. Still, perhaps you’ll start to see ordinary “miracles” around you every day—and the author would consider his objective met.

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From the cover:  Pierce Taylor Hibbs serves as Associate Director of the Theological English department at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Trinity, Language, and Human Behavior (2018) and The Speaking Trinity & His Wounded World (2019). He writes regularly at wordsfortheologians.org.

*Songwriters: David A. Stewart / Ordinary Miracle lyrics © Universal  Publishing Mgb Ltd., Sony/atv Harmony, Universal Music Corp., Bmg Platinum Songs Us, Sony/atv Melody, Bmg Rights Management (uk) Ltd., Aerostation Corp., Arlovol Music