Intro: 00:00

Welcome to the infinitely precious podcast produced by infinitely precious LLC. Your host is James Henry. Remember, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

James: 00:12

Hello, beloved. It's me, James. Back with another week of reflections here on the Infinitely Precious podcast. I'm so delighted that you've joined me. And if you're enjoying this, I do encourage you to share this with friends.

James: 00:26

Certainly, we're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. You can come directly to the infinitelyprecious.org website And there you can just listen to them on your desktop if you choose to. In any of those cases, if you find these meaningful, I encourage you to share them with others. And certainly, if you choose, you can respond, infinitelypreciousllcgmail dot com. Send me a message, some thoughts, questions you might have that you'd like for me to reflect on.

James: 01:04

Currently, I mostly choose the things that seem most appropriate to me. What's rising in me? What am I thinking about these days? Today, I'm thinking about the sacred ordinary. And just that phrase itself invites a new way perhaps of perceiving the world in which we live.

James: 01:28

That if the ordinary is indeed sacred that you don't have to wait for a mountaintop or experience or a sacred retreat or a day apart in silence. If everything in our lives, each moment, each adventure, each little thing that we do, each one of those things is a gateway to the sacred for us if we are attentive in the moment. And yes, in some ways I've talked about this many times before or at least sometimes before that so much of the way we perceive the world requires a certain amount of attention. I was noticing this morning, for instance, out my window. I'm in a new window than when I began the podcast because I'm in a new home, a new parsonage at a new church where I serve.

James: 02:27

But as I was looking out the window this morning and the pattern of sunlight is different here than it was where I was just because every place is unique, every place is different. This is no different than that. So, I looked out my window and there is in my line of sight a tall, bright, burnt orange, yellowish colored tree. It's the autumn and the leaves are changing. And it's one of the first thing because of its height that catches the morning rays of the sun, which are coming up later now than they used to because the days are shortening.

James: 03:14

And so I was just struck by how gorgeous it is to look at that tree. The contemplative part of me thinks I should have looked at the tree without judging it or any other thing, but I just thought it was beautiful and it was sort of radiant. Something about it was deeply, deeply radiant. The way it caught the light and it shone and I sat there transfixed with my cup of coffee in my hand looking at it, gazing at it, appreciating it, and thinking what a gift it is. And that moment was sacred.

James: 03:56

That tree was sacred. It still is sacred. But because I was attentive to it, I was aware of its sacredness. There's no place you go, nothing you do in this life, nothing you see with your eyes or hear with your ears that isn't in some way sacred. It's just that you're not always aware.

James: 04:20

We're not always aware. I'm not always aware of how sacred those moments are. So what I'm inviting you to do is be where you are. Let me start by saying, I've already started by saying other things, but let's start with this. It's not going to be easy.

James: 04:42

You're not going to be present every single moment. Even as you enter the day from the beginning with the intention that you will be present, it won't be possible. Mostly because we are easily distracted. All sorts of things catch your eye and it takes kind of a practiced presence. It takes a gathering up of all of the senses that desperately pull us in all these directions.

James: 05:11

We hear these sounds. We smell these smells. We see these things. Perhaps we taste something or we feel something. The temperature in the room is warm or cool or comfortable or un and all those things distract us.

James: 05:31

Not to mention all of the devices that are around us. It is easy to be distracted. So in order for us to make the moment sacred, we need to be in the moment, it for what it is. I believe Confucius originally said it but the first time I heard it was in the movie Buckaroo Bonsai Across the Eighth Dimension. I don't remember exactly the title but Peter Weller, the character, Buckaroo Bonsai says in the midst of a concert to the people who are there no matter where you go, there you are.

James: 06:20

Except we're not. Except we're not. So, in order to experience the sacred ordinary, to really experience it and notice that we're experiencing it, we have to be intentional in our awareness of that moment. Really try to be there. I would be the first to tell you it's easier said than done, but it is possible.

James: 06:51

It is possible. And I say it to you. And after I've said it's easier said than done, you may feel defeated and not try. Or you may try and find out how hard it is and then not try again. It's worth trying and failing.

James: 07:09

Not beating yourself up in your failure. We all fail at this being present thing. We all do. Even those of us who are carefully, consciously cultivating physical, spiritual presence wherever we go trying to do that, we fail, we trip. Now we can just give up or we can try again.

James: 07:36

So I encourage you, maybe you're listening to this in the afternoon, or maybe you're watching this or thinking about this in the morning, whenever you are seeing this, take a moment to pause, look out the window. Maybe you are listening to this on your way to work, and you're already looking out the window because you're driving. If that's the case, keep your attention on the road. But if you happen to be in a place where you can stop safely, just stop for a moment, take thirty seconds, Survey your surroundings. Catch a glimpse of what is where you are.

James: 08:22

Maybe you've walked by this place a thousand times and you never notice the little tiny wild blue flowers by the side of the road that were right there all along. At least maybe they were, but you don't know because you weren't watching. You didn't pay attention. Now you are. Maybe you didn't hear the sounds of the birds around you in that spot because you were so focused on where you were going to or what you were hearing in your headphones.

James: 08:53

And the truth is, you're hearing me in your headphones maybe on this podcast. So, you're hearing me on your headphones, I encourage you to stop the podcast and take the headphones off and just listen and look, feel, smell and be present in the moment. Try it for just thirty seconds. See how many times you get distracted. But maybe try it again for thirty seconds later today, tomorrow.

James: 09:27

And maybe you find out that as you practice being present for those thirty seconds, eventually you aren't so distracted for all thirty of those seconds. Maybe for five seconds, you're not so distracted. Maybe for ten. Maybe you eventually make it to all thirty seconds of not being distracted. Imagine what that might be like for you to truly be present.

James: 09:53

Imagine what it might be like because it could make all the difference. Every moment, every breath, every heartbeat is sacred. It is a gift from the divine and we get to experience it. What would it be like if we were more intentional about the way we experienced it? It might seem more sacred to us.

James: 10:20

We might catch more of the magical moments we find ourselves in and we might see ourselves for the gift that we are and the whole world for the gift it is and all those around us as the gifts they are. All the different presences, the sounds, the feelings, the connection, the sacred ordinary. The sacred ordinary. It doesn't have to be in some kind of unique building, mosque, temple, synagogue, church, chapel, cathedral, ancient natural wonder. It doesn't have to be.

James: 11:15

Those moments might be extraordinary too, but the ordinary moments are filled with sacred revelations for us as well if we attend to those moments. So maybe ponder that wonderful phrase, no matter where you go, there you are, and think for a moment, I've gone to the place where I am right now. This is where I am. Here I am. What does it feel like to be here?

James: 11:52

What do I see here? What do I hear here? Can I taste anything here? Do I feel anything here? This body is a sensory organ for the divine in the ordinary moments and we get to be in it.

James: 12:19

So look for the sacred ordinary in every moment of your life. And if you can't quite fit it in every moment, at least periodically remind yourself to take a look around, to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, to realize what a gift it is to be alive. I'm thankful for you even without knowing who you are listening. I'm thankful that you're a part of this, that your presence is in this world and that I get to come to you in this way. If you find this podcast helpful, I do encourage you to share it with some other folks And so they can listen to it and maybe find something helpful for them too.

James: 13:01

So just be mindful that whether or not you find your moments to be sacred even in the ordinary, that you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are. Till the next time I join you, I wish you all the best.