“Praise the Lord! Let my whole being praise the Lord!2 I will praise the Lord with all my life; I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.” Ps 146:1-2
Good Day to you all!
A few years ago I began helping to decorate our worship space in the sanctuary. This is something that I love to do. I love the creativity of placing many different types of textiles and colors together to create a visual, an imagery that can evoke a fresh or new or different way of seeing something. In the case of the sanctuary, I attempt to bring a visual, a sense or a feeling to the liturgical seasons of the Church and or to the scriptures that are being focused upon.
The season we are in right now ironically is called Ordinary Time. I think we all would agree that these times have been anything but “ordinary,” but for the church this is the season that we are in. In the Christian Church there are two cycles of celebration: the Christmas Cycle (Advent-Christmas-Epiphany) and the Easter Cycle (Lent-Easter-Pentecost). After each of these cycles there is an ordinary time of growth symbolized by the color of green, we are in the second cycle.
Ordinary time, sounds so, plain and simple, a bit ho-hum. But I believe Ordinary Time matters deeply, both in the Church calendar and in our personal walks. It is time that matters, time that is to be counted and measured. It is our ordinary, common, routine of everyday life, life that matters in our spiritual walk and life that matters deeply to God.
This Ordinary time comes after Pentecost, the birth of the Church, empowerment of the Holy Spirit that sent the Apostles and disciples out to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is the longest season of the Church calendar, it is a celebration of how our work for God in daily life matters. It is not a season of big events like Christmas of Easter, it is a season of doing, each and every day, the little things that Christ has called and commissioned us to do. The color green is a symbol of new growth, of becoming enlightened through change and new understandings.
During this unusual Ordinary time, while we are social distancing and staying healthy, it may also be a time of reflection into our own personal walk, our spiritual journey, in light of current events may we be reminded of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and our calling to love all of humanity to further God’s Kindom on earth.
Holy and Ever Present God, may you walk with us through these unordinary day of our lives. Surround us with your Holy Spirit as the very air we breathe. Remove our fear and sorrow, fill us with your joy – joy for life – joy for creation – joy for the common good of all for You are good all the time. We ask these things in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Blessings, Brenda