Welcome to Pushing Pause! A bi-weekly newsletter offering you an invitation to push pause and explore faith, rest, and beauty in the every day moments of life. Sign up below to have this newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Though it is still very much summer, as the 95 degree temperatures outside my NC window confirm, my kids went back to school last week. This feels like a weird middle space of enjoying what’s left of summer while also signing forms and adjusting to new schedules. Our summer break felt fast but also restful. As I reflected a bit on my summer, I couldn’t name anything spectacularly noteworthy. Good books were read, delicious ice cream was eaten, fireflies were caught, afternoons were spent at the pool, slow mornings were had, and some fun vacations were sprinkled in the mix. All in all it was a sweet and ordinary summer.
We’re smack dab in the middle of the longest stretch of what is known on the liturgical church calendar as ordinary time. It’s the time that falls outside of the 2 great seasons of Christmastide and Eastertide. The Episcopal Church says this of ordinary time, “Ordinary time can be understood in terms of the living out of Christian faith and the meaning of Christ’s resurrection in ordinary life.”
I love this language for helping us understand and see the importance of these days that can feel oh so ordinary as they roll in over and over again. We hang the beach towels to dry. We run to the grocery store for the 3rd time this week. We make appointments. We carry on in the dailiness of life and yet it matters. It has purpose in the formation of our lives because in the midst of it all we are learning to practice the way of Christ. We see our need for patience and how to extend it to others. We confront our coping strategies for daily stress and trust we can bring our full selves to God. We reflect on how we manage our money and where our heart lies as we grasp for control. There’s a need for kindness when we rub elbows in the kitchen with our spouse who it seems is always standing in front of the exact drawer we need to open. We seek forgiveness when our tone is cutting and we offer grace for our kids who do the same. All of the ways we live our ordinary lives are shaping us in seen and unseen ways.
Ordinary time reminds me that this is the stuff of life. This here and now isn’t to be disqualified even when it feels boring or it doesn’t live up to your ideals. This moment holds meaning because it’s an opportunity to remember that in Christ we have our being.
For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Acts 17:28
This ordinary time doesn’t have the flash, celebration, or traditions of Easter and Advent but it has the power to stretch us and transform us as we draw near to Jesus in the ordinary places of our lives. Ordinary time offers its own invitation, an invitation to love and let yourself be loved right where you are. Put into practice the love of Christ and open yourself in the midst of your ordinary moments to know you are loved. The resurrection of Christ transformed all moments because of and for love. There’s nothing ordinary about that!
As we move through the dog days of summer and acedia creeps in, may we remember the gift and joy of ordinary time for helping us live out and bask in the love of God in the middle of ordinary life.
A Practice
Choose one activity this week that feels very ordinary like unloading the dishwasher, making the bed, brushing your teeth, etc and use the time it takes you (or part of the time) to pray or meditate on God’s love for you in that moment. This may serve to help you remember the constant loving presence of God in our ordinary moments.
Pay attention to how this might shift something within you. Do you feel more relaxed or do you notice a tightening? You don’t need to judge your response but simply notice it each time with curiosity.
What does ordinary time mean or feel like for you? I’d love to hear! It’s good to be back sharing words here. - Lindsay