Hallowing the Everyday

"The redemption of the world occurs not through heroic acts by superhuman saints but through the daily activities of a lowly tradesman.” S. Daniel Breslauer 

An acquaintance of mine posted this link on Facebook: Worship Through Corporeality in Hasidism & Mormonism

I highly recommend you read it.

On Sunday I taught a class in church. The subject of the lesson was " Faithful and Energetic Service in the Kingdom of God."  The above article corroborates the lesson I taught and has added insights to the devotion of a Latter Day Saint to the cause of the gospel in her/his entire life, not just on Sunday.

The author described a Hasidic tradition (legend maybe?) of Enoch (who was translated--or taken straight up to God, along with his people) being a shoemaker. He devoted every stitch of the shoes he made to God. One way to think of or understand this legend is thus: Enoch did not necessarily say a prayer every time he made a stitch. Rather he made the stitches as skillfully and honestly as he could, to provide his customers with a product truly beneficial to them. The author relayed,  "Enoch’s ascension came as the result of his intense devotion to benefiting and bettering his fellow man. This was the true essence of God’s own character, so doing even a menial task to the utmost of one’s ability in order to help others is, indeed, the highest form of imitatio Dei. "

I love this way of thinking. Truly, it is the way of living for every converted Latter-Day Saint. We believe every menial act can be sanctified or hallowed. The faith with which we live everyday reflects where our loyalty lies. We manifest our devotion to our Heavenly Father through simple actions; for example, reading to a child, listening to a friend, visiting the elderly. We also manifest our devotion through more prominent life decisions. For example, my husband purposely chose the career path he is on with the intent to provide for his family temporally and spiritually.  Even more so, he saw this path as a way for me to spend more time nurturing our children and creating an optimal environment for them to learn of Christ.* In fact, the majority of our worship happens outside of our churches and temples. Brigham Young, one of the Presidents of the LDS church said, "Our work, our everyday labor, our whole lives are within the scope of our religion. This is what we believe and what we try to practice." Thus we hallow the everyday. 

The author commented how "raising the realm of the profane to that of the sacred reveals the true essence of worship and hints at the monism which will prevail with the advent of the Messiah." We all look forward to the Millenial Day when Christ will reign on the Earth. Incorporating the characteristics of Christ into every aspect of own lives today will help create a similar community to that which will exist after the Second Coming of Christ. 

Without mincing any more words, I simply encourage you to read the article. 

I'd love to hear what you have to say!

*This does not mean the path we have chosen is right for everyone or the only way to go about creating an optimal atmosphere to nurture and teach. I understand there are a myriad of ways/situations people have to work with. In the end, what's important is the idea found in 2 Nephi 25:26, "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins"(emphasis added).