God in the Mundane//Weird drive home

Haven't been getting enough sleep lately & likely won't again tonight.

I awoke late. Was hoping to get up early & rush the car into the shop 'cause the right front tire is making weird noises when it gets bumped or I make left turns. Not happy noises & I am sort of hoping the wheel doesn't fall off anywhere crowded.... but was all zombified & didn't get up early like I'd plan.

Spent the day in a bit of a fog. Spent most of the day moving my desk to the new spot at work (as part of the new role, get a new desk) & got everything unpacked & set up. A little bit of other work, but mostly just kind of stewing in nothingness & the zoned out stare of tiredness & general unhappiness.

Went over the community house after working a bit late & goofed around with Connor for a bit & then sat down to an absolutely stellar meal. I'm not a huge salmon fan, but this stuff was mouthwateringly delicious glazed salmon... sooooo good... accompanied by a blend of couscous & vegetables (sweet potatoe & chickpea & mushrooms & other stuff) & great garlic bread. A feast for kings & queens....

...after the meal decided to help with the dishes & chose to wash 'cause then I didn't have to figure out where things went in the kitchen. Manual labour is a great place for me to be alone with my thoughts.... sometimes this is good, sometimes bad, depending on where the thoughts go. I sort of went back into my funk (not the musical kind, that would've been cool.... but the melancholy) & spent some time trying to analyze it all, to understand why I felt unhappy, or dull or just out of it. Figure it's likely the sleep thing.

But got to thinking about people like Rich Mullins & Brother Lawrence who talk about how things like washing dishes are a spiritual discipline, of how these are the places to meet God & thought I'd test out their theories. So, stopped asking God why I was so down & switched to asking something akin to how is this a spiritual moment?

& it happened almost instantaneously. I looked up, which I hadn't done the whole time & saw the valance/ the blinds/curtains (whatever it's called) at the top of their kitchen window & it was this crocheted scene of all these little houses & suddenly my mind snapped to thoughts of how it was beautiful, of how long it must've taken someone to do that, maybe it was someone's grandmother, something passed down, maybe it's made by hands in china or india. It reminded me of small towns in winter & grain elevators & snow falling & small communities....

...& suddenly I was overwhelmed by this sense of beauty, of how lucky I was to be alive, of just how good God is & life is & yeah, it was gorgeous.... Looking back now, it sort of feels like being a shepherd in bethlehem on a silent night when suddenly the angels appeared singing 'glory to God in the highest & on earth, peace, good will to all people'....

... & so the divine snuck into the mundane, or rather, the peacefulness of the mundane opened my heart to the divine's continual presence... & yeah, after that, I was just very aware of the 'now', the movement of my hand in the water, the feeling of liquid, suds, the dishes & cloth, the slow movement of scrubbing... just this place where all of the senses sort of felt heightened & I became aware of the 'now' instead of trapped in thoughts of past or future...

...so yeah, great moment.. which led in to great prayers.... a friend prayed a prayer about God in our work or something (was a fantastic prayer, wish I remembered it), but sort of felt challenged/encouraged by the silent prompting of the unexpected voice to maybe try this out at work tomorrow & try to look for there to be a spirituality in my work, to see if the divine can break into the engineering day... So that's my little experiment for tomorrow (so long as I get enough sleep & remember to look for it....)

& then yeah, had the odd drive home:

Got to 16th & 12Ave & this lady comes walking up to the car, flagging me down. I roll down the window, she starts in:
"Excuse me, do you have the time?"
"it's 10 to 10"
"Thanks. uhm, if I paid you five bucks would you drive me up to crowchild trail"
"uhm, well, just get in, I'm heading that way anyhow."
"Great" - she gets into my car & I start to drive.
"Actually," she says, could you drive me over to 14th street".
"OK"
"So what are you doing tonight? Just driving around?"
"Nope. Just coming from a friend's house & just on my way home"
"Oh. well I'm looking for a man to buy me a birthday beer."
"How's that going?"
"Not too well.... Do you want to buy me a birthday beer?"
"Uhm, no. I'm just looking to head home."
"Oh, well, just drop me here," (I start to pull over), "I need to get some dope...uhm... I mean I need to see a friend. Oh, just keep going."
"OK.... so how's your birthday going?"
"Not so great. Are you sure you don't want to buy me a birthday beer?"
"Yes"
"Can I buy you a beer?"
"Uh, no, I'm just looking to head home.... (silence).... so how long have you been in Calgary?"
"Three years. I'm from Toronto... How did you know I wasn't from Calgary?"
"I didn't"
"well you asked 'how long I'd been in Calgary?', did you know I'm not from Calgary?"
"uhm, no, I just well, most people that live in Calgary aren't originally from Calgary. I'm not originally from Calgary, I..."
"Oh, I'd love you forever if you'd turn left at those lights"
"OK... (turn left)... where are we going?"
"Oh, just go up there & turn right at the stop sign....Do you have a girlfriend?"
"uhm, no, not at the moment".
"So what are you doing tonight, you've just got the time to drive pretty girls all over the place?"
"Well, I uh, just try to be nice to people every once in a while"
"Oh. So you're sure you're not looking for a good time tonight."
"Uhm, no"
"Well that's too bad. Just let me out here. Thanks. goodbye."
"Uhm, bye." (car door starts to shut) "Be safe"... (door closes)

Yeah, weird..... whatever that was I totally missed it.