Insipid Moments of Praise

“There is a whole sensible world around me that I should be able to turn to Your praise; but I cannot do it. Yet at some insipid moment when I may possibly be thinking of floor wax and pigeon eggs, the opening of a beautiful prayer may come up from my subconscious and lead me to write something exalted.”

~ Flannery O’Connor, A Prayer Journal

Here Flannery gets at the essence of true praise. Worship isn’t something we schedule for say a Sabbath Day or early morning devotions. Praise happens in the routine of life. Flannery’s “whole sensible world” provides opportunities for praise if we would “be still” IN our activity.

The stillness in our activity is the channel through which God reveals Himself.

Not stopping whatever else it is I’m doing at the moment to make time for praise. Not waiting for the circumstances to get better so that I can praise. But stillness in the storm, in the hustle, in the frenetic, in the doubting, in the death-watch, in the grocery, in the classroom, in the study, in the crisis.

Still.

And a whole sensible world begins to sing in such a way that we can’t not turn it to His praise. So much so that even floor wax and pigeon eggs are promptings for praise.

RELATED:

NPR: A Gem Found in Old Papers: Flannery O’Connor’s Prayer Journal
NEW YORK TIMES: The Believer: Flannery O’Connor’s Prayer Journal