The Bible has several passages like those in the Book of Daniel which speak in coded language about beasts (“lions and tigers and bears, oh my”) and horns and books and trumpets and other exotic references. A whole cottage industry has developed to decipher what those images refer to. Contrast that with the images Jesus used: “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.” What could be more ordinary! Jesus style of teaching illustrates that the best place to find God is not in something outside the realm of human existence but in the ordinary, in the common place. God is hidden in plain sight. Today’s prayer is an invitation to look at the prosaic stuff of life and see the presence of God.
