To romanticize (and sanctify) your life
A few years ago, there was a big trend going around about “romanticizing your life.” The idea is to take things we typically do not like to do, such as cleaning, laundry, cooking, getting groceries or running errands and make them a little bit more romantic or glamorous. Some examples: lighting a nice candle while you’re cleaning your room, enjoying a glass of wine as you cook, thinking about new recipes while you shop, or indulging in little treats like fancy laundry detergent. It’s not a bad concept, because there are a lot of things in our lives that frankly are not the most fun to do (I say as I sit here, staring at a mountain of laundry I need to fold before leaving for a trip tomorrow morning.)
The whole goal of romanticizing our lives is to bring greater beauty, goodness, and presence to our daily lives, which is good. But there’s also another, dare I say deeper, option, which is to sanctify our lives.
Maybe it doesn’t sound as much fun as romanticizing, but I think that the benefits can be far longer lasting than even the yummiest candle.
The idea of sanctifying our daily lives and work is something that’s been around since the beginning of the Church - for centuries, the saints have offered up their daily duties to the glory of God, and the Church invites us to do the same. The basic concept is that our suffering is not wasted. In fact, not only does the act of walking through our suffering make us stronger and grow our character, but we also believe that we can offer up the things we don’t like for the spiritual body of Christ. Working on a frustrating project? Offer it up for the intentions of your friends: “Lord, this is hard and I don’t like it, but I offer up my efforts for the intentions of a friend who is walking through a hard time.” That means that whenever we’re doing something we don’t love, we can offer it up for our intentions and those of our loved ones. Not only does this help us get things done we need to do, but it drives us to complete them with excellence, knowing the effort is for someone else. Nothing is wasted.
The idea of sanctifying my life is one that has brought great joy to my own life. I can’t tell you how grateful the people in my life could be during seasons when I’m trainig for a marathon because I spend a lot of that time offering up the suffering for those I love :)
Romanticizing our lives is a good thing. In fact, I’m a big fan of candles and fancy laundry detergent and glasses of wine while cooking. But sanctifying our lives enables us to give outwards instead of serve inwards, to make our lives a daily offering for the Lord. He never said that our lives are going to be easy. In fact, He promised us that in this world we would have trouble. But it doesn’t necessarily mean we just have to sit in that trouble and force our way through it. God always gives us the grace to do what He’s asked us to do and through the opportunities He offers to sanctify our work and actions, these actions bear fruit that can extend so much farther than we could ever imagine.
As we approach Lent, this could be a good place to start as we consider our fasts. What are the crosses the Lord has already invited us to carry? Where are the little sufferings in our lives we can embrace with greater joy and peace this season? What could we offer up for those we love (or what could we add that could be a good opportunity to love and serve others with our prayers and actions)? These are questions I’m asking myself and invite you to ask as well!
In Christ,
Jane
What I’m loving lately:
This week I got my third pair of Thursday boots (I wear them into the ground) and again, I cannot recommend them more. My favorites are the Knockout High Heel - I just bought the black ones (I also have the toffee ones).
This book on the Troubles in Northern Ireland is so gripping and wild. I know so little about this conflict (basically 50 years ago!) and this account is so well written and captivating. If you like a good historical nonfiction but don’t like to be bored, this one is for you.
Pray for Pope Francis
The Holy Father is not doing well. Please offer a prayer up for him today. It’s been so beautiful to see how so many have gathered to pray for his wellbeing. If you’re not as familiar with his writings (which I love) I highly recommend this one, my favorite, on St. Therese and confidence: C’est la Confiance
Ski Trip
This weekend my business school friends and I had the most WONDERFUL ski trip this weekend in Tahoe. Truly, a dream. Gorgeous blue skies, warm weather, pretty clear ski hills. The best!!
Prayer intentions:
For a friend
For a special intention
For Pope Francis