The Sacred Ordinary is a blog series originating from a writing course led by Ellie Roscher for the Collegeville Institute, centering on the sacred ordinary. The authors read and wrote essays designed to make ordinary moments shine, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share these essays with the Church Anew audience. 

These days, holy remains

inside the reflection of light through red shining glass,

under the tongues of oceans which keep their counsel,

at the top of the last towering savannah oak beside the empty convent.   

These days, holy remains

in eyes which open and leak recognition, 

in the chipmunk who hides in a downspout, 

in between dust motes revolving in thrift shops. 

These days, holy remains 

in the two singed hot pads hanging on the fridge, 

a testament to fire.

It remains

in the whistling arc of missiles. 

What is more unthinkable than God?

It is easier to imagine my arms being measured by the antennae of ants,

my neurons pulled back like rubber bands. 

The sky doesn’t fit through the dot on my iris.

Red colored glass, a towering oak, and chipmunk cheeks will have to do.

The universe peeps from between the pleats 

under a mushroom’s cap.

It speaks from ordinary things. No more holy than the stars.

These days, holy remains, 

unknowable, quaking, and nameless. 

The word for divine, said in a breath, or without being said at all.