Awe of Averages

It is widely understood that the more common an experience or observation, the less special it feels. Somehow, simply by our daily awareness of something, it becomes regular. I have found myself wondering about this lately, as my understanding of “typical” has tipped upside down. It is now normal to discuss the “new normal.” Whatever that is. In fact, that phrase comes up so often I roll my eyes with a kind of disgusted boredom every time I hear it.

As I have wondered about what makes up the ordinariness of life, I have also been struck by the glory of its simplicity. Is there a chance that we have become so accustomed to the eminence of creation that we have stopped seeing the actual miracles that surround us? Is it possible that God has designed a world that inspires such daily awe, it has become commonplace? We have lost our ability to celebrate natural phenomenon and have instead become bored by it. Minute by minute we may come across some new revelation; yet, we are too focused on where we go next, our plans, our designs, that we miss God’s grandeur right in front of our nose.

But that was then. This is now. Now, plans don’t hold such jurisdiction over our daily lives. Now, we are reconfiguring what is normal to us. Now, we are open to revelations of a divine nature, perhaps discovered in the smallest, most common, and quiet moments of our lives.

Julian of Norwich has been on my mind for precisely this reason. She was a mystic from the late 14th century, best known for writing Revelations of Divine Love. These showings came to her as she suffered an illness and lay upon what she thought was her deathbed. Her transcriptions serve as a gift to all of us struck by uncertainty and anxiety about what the future holds. I also believe they are a gift to us as we reconsider the ordinary, rediscover awe, and search for meaning in our lives.

One of the most famous revelations came to her in the form of a simple hazelnut.