“What if we can find joy and affirmation in the hidden, the quiet, the mundane? Because that’s exactly where Jesus says it’s at. There’s holy in the mundane.”- Jeff and Alyssa Bethke
Jeff and Alyssa Bethke (“Love That Lasts”) wrote the foreword to Sara Hagerty’s new book Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World That loves to Be Noticed. Jeff and Alyssa identify themselves as among the first native users of the internet. Born in the late 1980s, Jeff and Alyssa don’t remember a time before the internet existed.
Although the internet provides unprecedented access to information, it’s also, Jeff and Alyssa stress, driving us. Thus, the internet’s a blessing and a curse. For example, the internet “feeds our insatiable desire” for others to affirm, notice, love, and like us. Consequently, a few years ago a Washington state man attempted a selfie with a moving train in the background. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the speeding train approaching from the track he was standing on. As a result, it killed him instantly.
However, Jeff and Alyssa underscore, one thing we celebrate little these days = faithfulness. Consistency. Obscurity. While many people look for a sixty-second Jesus, it’s really happening in the long game. Furthermore, growth occurs in hiddenness. The Bethke’s explain:
“When you walk with Jesus, the hiddenness is where you are seen the most. By him. With ferocious, white-hot piercing eyes. And his gaze of love is what changes us, what makes us, what we all are desperately searching for in the first place. Yes, we’re dying to be seen. The good news? – Jesus, the One that matters most, already sees us. Growth happens in hiddenness. We must shout this message from the mountaintops!
Today’s question: How have you found joy and affirmation in the hidden, the quite, the mundane? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “Patience is more than endurance”
