Finding God In The Routine

Years ago, I attended a short, intimate two-day workshop led by author and speaker Rob Bell, whom I admire very much.   

At one point over the weekend, he was talking to us about theological reflection on the ordinary and mundane things we do in our daily lives.  His point was that holiness was all around us; we just had to be aware of it.  

Bell told a story about how he'd had one of those moments after buying groceries, and examining his receipt.  He said that he was suddenly struck by all that it had taken to get the food into the grocery store, where he could buy it.  He thought of farmers growing the produce and raising livestock, workers picking the fruit and vegetables, and drivers transporting everything to the store, where employees sorted it and put it all out.   

He went on to say that he was struck by gratitude for all of it, including the fact that he was able to afford groceries and later prepare meals with his spouse for their family.  Bell then told us that he was also struck by the sacramental nature of his receipt--- a mundane, routine object that he mostly overlooked.  

Reflecting on this story today, I am struck by the following quote from Fr. Richard Rohr: 

“The simplest things are often the truest.”

There are seasons of life when our days begin to blur together. Wake up. Go to work. Run errands. Wash dishes. Answer emails. Repeat. Routine can sometimes feel uninspiring, even spiritually empty.

Yet much of life is lived precisely there.

The danger is that we begin believing meaningful moments only happen somewhere else—in the future, on vacations, during major life changes, or in dramatic spiritual experiences. Meanwhile, the sacred waits quietly within the ordinary rhythms we often dismiss.

In the Gospels, Jesus spent most of his life in ordinary routines. Before the crowds and miracles, there were years of quiet labor, shared meals, conversations, travel by dusty roads, and everyday interactions with ordinary people. Even after his resurrection, Jesus appears to his disciples while they are fishing, cooking breakfast beside the sea (John 21:1–14).

God often meets us in the middle of normal life.

Richard Rohr writes that the simplest things are often the truest. We often complicate spirituality by imagining that encountering God requires extraordinary experiences. But sometimes the deepest spiritual growth happens through ordinary consistency—daily prayer, regular worship, caring for family, showing up for work, practicing gratitude, and continuing to love even when life feels repetitive.

Routine does not have to deaden the soul. It can actually become the soil where faith quietly grows.

Perhaps holiness is not escaping ordinary life, but learning to inhabit it differently. To fold laundry with gratitude. To drive to work while praying for others. To prepare meals as an act of care. To see daily responsibilities not as interruptions to spiritual life, but as spiritual life itself.

The sacred ordinary invites us to stop waiting for another life and begin noticing the holiness hidden inside this one.

Prayer

Faithful God, help me to discover your presence in the routines of daily life. Teach me to see ordinary responsibilities as opportunities for gratitude, love, and spiritual growth. May even the simplest moments become sacred through your presence. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Which parts of your daily routine feel spiritually disconnected?
2. How might ordinary responsibilities become acts of worship?
3. What simple practice could help you notice God more intentionally each day?