Each day offers us countless opportunities to encounter the sacred—if only we have the eyes to see and the heart to notice. Too often, we assume that holiness is reserved for mountaintop moments, silent retreats, or the stillness of a chapel. But what if the sacred is right where we are, hidden in plain sight, waiting for our attention?
This week, as I sat by the window of my new parsonage, I found myself gazing at a tall autumn tree, its leaves glowing a burnt orange in the morning light. The way the sun touched those leaves made them appear radiant, almost aflame with life. In that simple moment, with a cup of coffee warming my hands, I was reminded: this too is sacred. The sacred is not limited to the extraordinary. It is present in the ordinary—if we will only notice.
Awareness, though, is hard work. We are distracted people, tugged in countless directions by sounds, sights, devices, and demands. The practice of presence—the art of being here now—is not one of perfection but persistence. As I often say, it’s worth trying and failing. We fail again and again to be fully present, and yet every time we return to awareness, we return to grace.
Try this: take thirty seconds to pause wherever you are. Look around. Notice what you see, hear, smell, and feel. Maybe it’s the quiet hum of a refrigerator, the light shifting on your wall, or the way a leaf trembles in the breeze. You may be surprised by what was there all along—waiting to be seen as sacred.
Every breath, every heartbeat, every ordinary moment carries within it the spark of divine presence. The sacred does not wait for your next vacation, your next retreat, or your next breakthrough. It is here, now, in this life you are already living.
So today, take a moment to stop, to look, to listen. Let yourself be present where you are, with the people and places that surround you. And as you do, may you discover again that you—and every moment of this life—are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.
Infinitely Precious 