Simple Steps to Spotting the Sacred

1. Ask…what did Jesus notice?
The question: “What would Jesus do?” has been popularized in American Christian culture, implying that if we can answer this question in our daily lives we will automatically go out and behave like Jesus. I only have one problem—I’m not Jesus. So perhaps it is better for me to ask the question: “What did Jesus notice?” In this I can discover the extraordinary behavior that Jesus noticed in ordinary people and give the witness of these living saints the opportunity to speak to my life.

2. Spot…those themes in your daily routines.
Jesus gives his followers more than parables, words of wisdom and pithy teachings. Jesus gives us a lens through which we can view our daily lives. So let’s ask the question: What did Jesus notice on the dusty, back roads of Palestine? He noticed the most unlikely people expressing lavish love, tremendous sacrifice, heart-felt compassion, unsolicited gratitude, costly contrition, persistent courage, child-like behavior, and overlooked people. Search for these same themes in lives of those around you.

3. Capture…the lessons in your heart and in your journal.
By calling attention to behaviors that reflected the heart and witness of God in the world, Jesus eternalizes these moments—he suspends these acts of notice in time so his followers can learn and grow. These ‘spottings’ are not for a select few or the enlightened. By calling these spottings to public attention, Jesus makes them available to everyone. Likewise, we are called to capture similar moments in our own lives. We can then meditate and pray upon these sacred moments, allowing them to challenge our hearts and confront our spiritual compromises.

4. Share…your stories with others.
The joy of “spotting” is sharing them with other people. Two things will happen: One, our friends and associates will become more attuned to the witness of God in their daily lives, becoming ‘spotters’ themselves. Two, lives will be changed through the sharing of our stories.