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2 min. read

So just what does “sacramental living” mean?

The Problem

Followers of Jesus of Nazareth in 21st-Century US America have too often compartmentalized religious life. We have work, and families, and friends, and hobbies … and somewhere in all of this we fit a little bit of God.

This type of living is antithetical to the call to follow Christ. The Story of God shows us a God who doesn’t simply want to be one of many priorities, nor just the first priority. This God longs to infiltrate all of life.

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The Answer

Sacramental living means to look at all of life the way we look at sacraments (according to your tradition these are Communion, Baptism, Marriage among others).

If all of life as a Jesus-follower is seen as sacramental, then everything becomes sacred for the believer.

Every act, every thought, every word becomes sacred.

Relationships, joys and sorrows, work and play can all be holy when living the sacramental life.

Henri Nouwen once explained it this way:

“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”

– Henri Nouwen

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So, This Site

My theological and philosophical musings seek to flesh out ways in which we can more simply and clearly be caught up into sacramental living.

I attempt to see God in all things. If I truly believe that God is reconciling all of creation to himself, then I want to be part of God’s own sacramental life, even in the prosaic things of existence.

All this, for the life of the world.

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