Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the North American Anglican Church who after spending seven years in campus ministry now works with InterVarsity Women in the Academy & Professions. She writes regularly for The Well, Her.meneutics, and Christianity Today.
Waking up on a cool morning in mid-March, Warren remembers her baptism which has formed her identity by grace. She encourages us to give thanks for the God who has gifted us with small and seemingly inconsequential moments of everyday life to bring forth freshness, meaning, and service to others.
Even so, there may be a part of us that agrees with Alfred Hitchcock who once said that movies are "life with the dull bits cut out." We'd prefer not to have to do the boring and repetitive chores such as doing dishes, scrubbing the bathroom floor, or changing the cat litter. Warren reminds us that spiritual formation is taking place in us during these daily activities. How we spend this ordinary day is how we will spend our Christian life: "It is in the repetitive and the mundane that I begin to learn to love, to listen, to pay attention to God and to those around me."
Warren sees our bodies as instruments of worship so that our efforts to take good care of them are a series of nonverbal prayers. Brushing our teeth, taking a shower, and doing our exercises are sanctifying rituals that have positive consequences. The author spins out a series of thoughtful and enlightening chapters on losing keys, eating leftovers, fighting with her husband, checking email, sitting in traffic, calling a friend, drinking tea, and sleeping.
