Ordinary Joys | Song Dog Journal

“The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.”
Hans Christian Andersen

We thank God before meals for the food that He provides…But I doubt that we always feel the full magnitude of what all we are thanking Him for. It isn’t just that He provides. It isn’t just that there is food on the table. It isn’t just the joy of being able to put nourishing, homemade food in front of family or friends, or to gift someone a loaf of bread. When was the last time I thanked God for the sense of taste? Of giving us the capacity to enjoy a meal, not just for the nourishment but for the pleasure of eating it? God didn’t have to create us with a sense of taste, with the ability to actually find wholesome pleasure in a meal, to be able to enjoy delicious food. But He did. He could have made the satisfaction of our basic needs boring and uninteresting, but He didn’t.

So I’m thankful for the ordinary joy of ordinary food, for the pleasure of a good meal, and for a God who is glorified when we enjoy what He created for our enjoyment!

“The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.”
Hans Christian Andersen

Romans 1:20 talks about how God’s divine attributes are clearly perceived in His creation design. If you want to see miracles, just look at the beauty of this earth! Creation just sings that there is a God who created all that we see and loves what He created! Few things convince me of this more than the joy God’s furred and feathered creatures bring to His humans, the deep love that can be shared between a human and an animal and yes, I believe it is reciprocal. I think animals have way more to their minds than we give them credit for, much more capacity for emotion and connection. It goes beyond instinct. And I believe that this intellect and intuition is something that brings glory to the Creator! God didn’t need to create any of what He created, and He sure didn’t need to create a human-animal connection that is so joy-giving. Yet what He created He looked at and “saw that it was good.” Isn’t it amazing that He did what He did? That He has created a world that can bring so much joy and goodness and pleasure? Because He didn’t need to.