The sun rises and sets everywhere and each sunrise and sunset are unique. Often, they go unnoticed. But God still does it.

As Christians, our understanding of glory and success must be rooted in our identity in this Christ.

which they announce through blogging and Twitter feeds—we’re tempted to view the routines and ruts of everyday life with derision.

I remember when our kids used to become angry with each other and say to their friends, "I won't invite you to my birthday party". It was so hurtful...I grew up expecting to change the world...and now that I'm in my sixties...I'm actually a bit worried that hardly anyone will come to my funeral...partly because we've lived so many places around the world...and partly because...oh, I don't know...maybe because, I've kind of moved on from places of influence. So, now...the most hurtful jibe would be, "I won't show up to your funeral", or "no one will care to read about all your exploits, or be around to remember or write about them". Yikes!

But I would add I do not like the headline at all. Maybe it should be something like "Find God in the Mundane" or "A Mundane Life is a Blessed Life." The one that is presently there is wrong -- we all are special because we each have been created by Almighty God. For that reason alone we are priceless.

I loved Aja's comments too! If you didn't read Aja's comments go back and read them. Beautiful. And this post is beautiful too. For the ones who took offense to it, it isn't condemning success, but just thinking about the dailiness of our lives. I've been thinking about this a lot too. I just asked my husband, "What am I really good at?" And he said, "You're a great mom." That really wasn't what I wanted to hear at the time (though it is one of the best things a mom can hear). The "mundane" things of life are more God-like I think than many things. Think about it -- think about how God does the same things day in and day out and does them so creatively. The sun rises and sets everywhere and each sunrise and sunset are unique. Often, they go unnoticed. But God still does it. God just does it because He is the Creator and finds joy in the act of creating (plus, He loves us so much). And think He gives us the right amount of oxygen in the air, the right amount of every element so we can breathe. That is mundane and always a constant (like dirty laundry and dishes are at my house), but God still does it with great love even though we don't notice it much of the time. Our daily lives resemble God's work much more than the "Big" moments do. Something to think about anyway.

I really enjoyed the article. I hope not being a woman doesn't get me shut out here. I am retirement age and still struggle with the feeling I am to do something, maybe not extraordinary, but significant. I have no idea what it is, but I feel at the right time it will be revealed to me. In the meantime I try to be content with the mundane. I do believe however we are all special in God’s “eyes” if only to the extent each of us is unique. Perhaps you are a uniquely good parent, spouse, organizer, a writer of blogs, beautician, or whatever. I think God intended for us while living in the mundane, to utilize our unique selves to the fullest capacity. I remember as teenager at my first job there was this one person who had a job that was not only mundane but grossly dirty, yet he always seemed to be smiling, or humming, and always in a good mood. To me that was his uniqueness. It made an impression on me and probably influenced how I live my life. I think it was the Apostle Paul who said with all situations therewith learn to be content. In truth we never know how or when God is using us, or whose life we have touched and made a little better just by being yourself. I have been blessed to have had a couple of people tell me years later how much something I had done or said meant to them, and I had no idea at the time I had done anything. One final comment: I think this “need” to be extraordinary is because we believe success and happiness are a result of our material accomplishments, when we should be more concerned with our spiritual development. In this fast paced world where my car or my kid is better than yours, has made material things “gods we have before Him”. Suppose I told you on several occasions God spoke to me in a dream, you would probably tell the authorities I was a danger to myself or others and should be evaluated. Two thousand or so years ago, perhaps even up until the industrial revolution, it was acceptable for people to talk that way on occasion; because the spiritual life was more important than the material life. Could it be part of the reason we resent the mundane is because we have our priorities wrong.

Is there some problem with Chinese and Indians rising to the top of the world? At least Chinese are potential political rivals. What's wrong with Indians rising to the top of the world? Do successful Indians somehow make us less prosperous and secure? Are we now, instead of listening to the article, to make the same mistake on a nationalistic level?

I don't think the intention is to say "Don't go to college, it's a waste of time" or "Don't improve yourself". It's to say "Don't expect to be a special little snowflake" and "Try to excel, but don't worry if you fail", a pair of sentiments I mostly agree with - too many people expect way too much from their degree (my wife has one that she calls useless; she's now working quite successfully by our measure in a completely different field) Not that I have much room to talk, I'm an extremely unique individual (as I'm sure most of you could have guessed), with both blessings and issues in abundance. I think I'm making the most of what I've been given, though sometimes I wish I could do something more impressive.

Great post.