Nearly every day I have porridge for breakfast. I know it is nutritious and a good start to the day. It is a habit that has served me well. There are also mundane things like washing the dishes or brushing my teeth. Practical disciplines that are part and parcel of daily routines. 

For much of my life I have tried to begin the day with prayer and reading the Bible. I believe it has provided me with spiritual sustenance over the years.

Most of us have habits that we find helpful. However there are also many things we repeatedly do or experience that can weary us. Sapping the spirit or taking the joy out of living. Do anything a few hundred times and you might start to question the value of doing it. Maybe it’s a daily commute to a job you find little fulfilment in. Perhaps it’s just living life. The days, weeks pass and years pass and you feel stuck. Wondering where you are headed.

For some retirement brings the question ‘what is the point?’ It may be a time when a lifetime of work, demanding responsibilities, a fulfilling role and respect from work colleagues are no more. Your work identity demanded much of your time and energies for decades. When that goes it can be hard to see what to replace this with. 

The soul can also be burdened by the consumerist world many of us live in. Much visual and written communications treat us as users of products. It could be the latest foods, fashions, gadgets, news, books or whatever attracts your attention. They are designed for us to meet our perceived need. Or even needs we didn’t know we had! Once consumed our appetite for the next attraction appears. Yet seldom do these things slake the spiritual thirst our hearts long for. 

Others feel that their experience of suffering seems meaningless. Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who experienced the horrors of Auschwitz and other concentration camps. He survived and went on to relate his experiences as well as observations of fellow inmates. His book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ is a profound insight into life in these death camps. Frankl said one of the ways we discover meaning is by “the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering”. He saw how even the inmates of concentration camps have the ability to choose. Even when death is a daily reality. Some lived in despair while others lived with hope. 

Recently I was encouraged by a thanksgiving service for the life of a friend. I could not be there in person. Yet I participated some days later through the wonders of modern technology. Despite the time gap it felt authentic. I joined those testifying to the impact and effect this woman’s life journey had on many. All the while I listened and walked alone through a forest. The autumnal sun was setting and the darkness encroached. I imagined the trees were joining in silent witness. Hearing the tales of the beauty of a life well lived. They were stories of mostly ordinary events. Yet it was the attitude she brought to navigating life’s challenges that made such an impression. It was a life dedicated to loving God and serving others. Her story helped me to see the potential in life amidst the humdrum of living.

Sometimes it’s faithfully doing ‘small’ things that help us. They put our experiences in perspective and point us to a bigger picture. Like daffodils planted in a rock face, life and hope might spring in unlikely places. Islands dotted in a sea sparkling in the sunshine remind us that our world is filled with wonder. Giving thanks for our daily bread (or porridge!) affirms that our life is a gift. We all have a story. It is being written and has the potential to be beautiful and glorious.

“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest”.

Jesus in ‭‭Matthew 11 verse 28b ‭(The Message version)

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*** elisabethgrantart.com