"No distinction was made between the sacred and the everyday....Their life was all one piece. It was all sacred and all ordinary." Sue Bender, author of Plain and Simple.


When this quotation was forwarded to me so I might comment about it, I thought, that's easy! Our lives are not to be compartmentalized, with one area sacred, and the other only ordinary.

As I thought more about it I asked the question: what do the two words mean?

Sacred: to be holy, to be consecrated to God.

Ordinary: customary, usual, familiar.


To understand my point of view about this, maybe it would help to know my religious background. Early on I was introduced to Methodist ideology, and then Southern Baptist.

I also attended what we called Sawdust stomping, holy roller revivals. Later another family took me to Episcopalian services.


A school mate got me to hurry to her Catholic church with her, so she could confess her sins before Easter services. (We were about twelve years old then).

Once in a while someone would knock on my door, and try to give me pamplets explaining why their particular religious belief was the one and only way to Heaven.

Another group, it seemed to me, placed more importance on their hierarchy of church government than whether Jesus died for our sins.

In the seventies, I learned of Eastern religions. It was almost like doing Yoga would save your soul. Just meditate enough, and it was done.


Five different families had me baptized so my soul would be safe. By then I was getting confused. Was Southern Baptist better than an Eastern belief? Are the Catholics' flowing robes with candle and incense ceremonies more pleasing to God than the Glory Halleluiah, roll in the aisle tent revivals?

Since moving from Denver to the western part of Colorado, I see a difference in how churches of the same religious persuasion conduct their services.

While livng in Kansas not many years ago, I was surprized that only 200 miles from Denver, an unspoken rule, (the very worst kind of rule) dictated how women dressed.

When I saw Amish people in the marketplace there, we never discussed sacred religion or ordinary life. The women didn't speak. No eye contact was made.

I saw an Amish lady in a Grand Junction store the other day, and her demeanor was the same.

They were easily recognized by their clothes, their shoes, how they combed and pinned their hair. Catholic sisters, or Nuns, until recent years, kept their hair covered. Pentecostal or Assembly of God women did not wear makeup, or quite noticeable jewelry, but they put elaborate buns in their hair, and twirled it into intricate styles. Many of them believed they should not cut their hair.

But back to the quotation: "Their life was all one piece. It was all sacred and all ordinary." Religious groups seem to acquire certain physical trademarks that quickly become that group's norm. But does that mean there is only one proper way to live?

In the Christian's Bible, in the new Testament, over and over, Jesus tried to get across to the religious people that salvation wasn't about how sacred they appeared to be. Their sacredness didn't depend on how properly they folded their hands when praying, or if their prayer robes were spotless enough. That same group of people found fault with Jesus and His followers when a lame or blind person was healed on a day people were not suppose to work. In their lives rules and tradition prevailed.

Not that we should show disrespect for solemnity, but we need to put the emphasis where it needs to be.

The Amish people, especially the women, exude piety. You would never see them in public, or not even in private, wearing scantily clothed dress. This brings to mind something I did when I joined an Assembly of God Church years ago. None of the women wore makeup. So I went home from church, and threw my makeup in the garbage.

That simple an act tells me how easily people can be influenced by social dictates of behaviour.

I believe Sue Bender, while writing of the Amish couldn't help reflecting their lifestyle. In that regard, their life was all sacred, and all ordinary.

I also believe our everyday lives can be sacred, or just ordinary, depending on how we treat each other.

Baking bread and cooking soup might be considered merely ordinary, but to the family plagued with sickness or some other crisis, that bread and soup becomes a sacred piece of love, straight from the heart of Jesus, delivered by we ordinary humans.