Ordinary Time

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

In recent weeks I have found myself drawn back to a book by Renita Weems Listening for God. It is a book made up of short stories about her spiritual journey as a pastor and theologian with all of the ups and downs that all of us encounter in our spiritual lives. One I was reading this past week is entitled “Ordinary Time.” In it she speaks of how in discovering the liturgical calendar in seminary, she began to make sense of how she felt in her personal life.

Ordinary time makes up the majority of the church year. We get excited for Advent and Christmas, for Lent and Easter, for Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, for the high holy days of the church year. There is special music, colors in the sanctuary change, the mood of worship changes. The well known stories line us up for encounters with our God who is mysterious and wholly other. We wait with Mary for the incarnation, for the birth of the Christ child; we engage in the solemn feast of Maundy Thursday and marvel with great joy the resurrection on Easter morn; and we wonder with amazement the tongues of fire as the Holy Spirit breaks forth on Pentecost. But the rest of the year is ordinary time.

However, ordinary time is not ordinary. All time is God’s and therefore all time is holy. It is a time however like summer, a time when our pace slows just a bit. I look at the calendar and can hardly believe it is the end of July. There are not as many meetings or other events going on. Committees are taking some time off. We take vacations and enjoy other hobbies. We take a deep breath.

A deep breath which is in contrast to the breathlessness that we experience in the midst of the other liturgical seasons. A deep breath as we may find God silent, but we know God is ever present. The stories we read show God’s presence in the everyday of life. The parables we have been exploring this summer are great examples of how God is always at work around us. Ordinary time is a chance to look for the everyday miracles around us and to reflect on how God is working in us and through us.

This week I invite you to take a deep breath. Look around you at the ordinary, everyday miracles of God. Pause in conversation with the Divine and reflect on how God is at work in your life.

Grace, Mercy and Peace,
Karen