The term “ordinary” can refer to:
- Something that is routine or usual.
- Something of no special quality or interest; commonplace.
- Something that is plain, undistinguished, or mediocre.
- Something that is customary or normal.
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The ordinary acts we practice every day at home
are of more importance to the soul
than their simplicity might suggest.
Thomas Moore
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Every ordinary thing in your life is a word of God’s love:
your home, your work, the clothes you wear,
the air you breathe, the food you eat….
the flowers under your feet are the courtesy of God’s heart flung down on You!
All these things say one thing only: “See how I love you.”
Caryll Houselander
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[Jesus] matters because of what he brought
and what he still brings to ordinary human beings,
living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings.
He promises wholeness for their lives.
In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength
and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.”
(Dallas Willard quoted in Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning)
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The further I wake into this life,
the more I realize that God is everywhere
and the extraordinary is waiting quietly
beneath the skin of all that is ordinary.
Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond,
and music is in both the flowing violin
and the water dripping from the drainage pipe.
Yes, God is under the porch as well as on top of the mountain,
and joy is in both the front row and the bleachers,
if we are willing to be where we are.
Mark Nepo