Not all of Scripture is characterized by high drama. For every Transfiguration or walk across the water, there are strict Old Testament directives on how to organize crops or wear one’s hair. Even today’s reading, which presents the magnificent image of God as a fire in a cloud, offers a rather boring account of Moses constructing a Dwelling “exactly as the Lord had commanded him.” I often wonder why these passages are included in the Bible at all. What do the Ark of the Covenant’s dimensions have to do with my faith?

I think the answer rests in God’s involvement in every facet of our lives, even the minutiae. Yes, God is with us when we are joyfully celebrating with our friends and families or struggling with pain, sorrow, and hardship. But God is also there when we are drinking coffee, brushing our teeth, checking an app on our phones, and waiting in traffic. Realizing God is constantly with us and around us is at the heart of the Jesuit challenge to find God in all things. Like St. Ignatius, we are called to seek God in the good, the bad, and even the mundane.

—Brian Harper works in Chicago as a communications specialist for the Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Jesuit provinces.