Reverence in the Mundane

In an episode of the On Being podcast, Krista Tippett and Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor talk about how reverence is possible in the most mundane things. Reverence, defined as being in the presence of something greater than ourselves.

Every action can be filled with reverence and that is the danger in automating the way we move through our day. When we react without thinking or go through our routines without even being conscious of what we are doing, we deprive ourselves of the significance that what we do can embody.

Mundane acts, such as saying hello, cleaning our coffee maker, or giving someone a ride home can always be an act of service or an opportunity for gratitude if we choose to see them in that way.

There is nothing closer to being in the presence of something greater than ourselves than doing something for the sake of another person. When the purpose of our action is for someone other than us, we are choosing to go outside of ourselves. In the slightest help we give to others, whether it is something that we are intentionally giving or something that helps someone even though we are not necessarily thinking about it in that way, we are in the presence of God. Even the simple act of saying hello to someone with a heart open to acknowledge everything of that person is an act of service to their essence as a human being.

Another way reverence can be possible in the mundane is gratitude. When we are cleaning our coffee maker, we can be grateful for having a coffee maker, for having the time and the energy to clean it, and for having the experience of cleaning it. When the only thought we have while cleaning something is to get to the end of the cleaning, then our movement becomes routine. We become frustrated that we have to take the time to clean and we start to wish that some things would always stay clean or that we could have somebody else do it for us. But when we begin to value the significance of the coffee maker in our life and the moment we have to take care of it, we realize that its presence is more important than we thought. That is where reverence begins—when what we considered to be trivial begins to become valuable. When we begin to realize that what we have been given far exceeds what we thought we had.

Every part of our day is an opportunity for us to be in the presence of something greater than ourselves, whether that is the wellbeing of another living being or the inherent preciousness of everything that makes up our lives.