Sacramental Living

April recently had a great post on her blog about sacraments and sacramental living, and it got me thinking about the sacramental moments that I experience in my own life. I don't attend a traditional church, have never been baptized... the only 'official' sacrament I can claim to have partaken of is communion. Which I don't want to downplay; I find communion to be a truly beautiful thing, and it is something that I miss.

I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. - Genesis 1:29

My day to day life here at l'abri offers many moments during which I can "catch a glimpse of the almost unbearable preciousness and mystery of life". Most often this happens for me in the kitchen. On those rare occassions when I am paying attention, I have to pause and give thanks to the God who created the earth and sustains it. There is something about picking a vegetable out of the garden (granted, this part of the process is pretty seasonally limited in the Alps), washing the earth off, chopping it into a bowl with all of its colorful cousins, and smelling the fragrance as it cooks and permeates the entire chalet. And of course, nothing says 'home' like freshly baked bread. For me, food is one of the most direct ways to worship the God who continually gives us more than we can imagine. God created, and then He gifted, and now we physically take that gift into ourselves. We can celebrate our creativity as image-bearers as we chop, slice, dice, mix and knead together the endless variety that God has given us. And then to enjoy the meal together, preferably with a glass of budget-breaking wine, culminates the experience. Celebration of God, creation, creativity, and community, all in an afternoon.

And now I shall go cook dinner...

P.S. For those of you who love to write, there is currently a contest (ending March 15th) given by Relief Journal for short stories celebrating the 'profound in the profoundly ordinary'.