Fanny Cherburg; Still Life with Vegetables and Fish, 1876

STEPHEN I. writes:

Your quotation on sweeping reminded me of that marvellous scene in the film Chariots of Fire where a character observes that: “You can praise God by peeling a potato if you peel it to perfection …”  I am reminded of one of my favorite biblical admonitions: “Be still and know that I am God”

Perhaps God wishes simplicity for us because it’s in the simple physical actions, focused only on what is before us or in our hands, that we can quiet our minds and tune out the everyday assaults from the outside, as well as from within in the form of our very own static: our constant plannings, plottings, worrying, desiring, fearing and all the other vanities and distractions.

This Catholic faith is so very unlike any belief system that came before it, no? A perfect God that creates an imperfect humanity and loves it; perfection that doesn’t just assume the guise of humanity but actually becomes incarnate, becoming weak flesh born to simple, powerless people and living humbly amongst them.

With each passing day I become more convinced that truth and the surest path to dignity is only really to be found in the simple and unassuming elements of life. How strange that a perfect and omnipotent God has designed us and the world in such a way so that to be most fulfilled and come to best know him we need only embrace the most basic and simple processes and rhythms of life, needing to carry out no great feats of action or valor to win his favor  – but mastering the fundamentals only.

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